How to Live a Dragon's Life
by cinedragon
Summary: What if Hiccup did kill Toothless? As punishment by the gods, he is turned into a Night Fury himself. Is there still hope for peace between dragons and Vikings? It's all up to Hiccup. And it ain't easy, a dragon's life.
1. How to become a dragon

_Author's note:_

_Well everyone, this is my second story about HTTYD. However I hope you'll forgive me for the mistakes that may follow:_

_1) English is my second language, so grammar and spelling mistakes may be seen regularly._

_2) I hope I can describe every character's personality well. I'm not good at describing characters I'm not really a fan of._

Pleading eyes looked up at the small Viking boy. The dragon didn't struggle to free himself from his bonds. It was no use, he had tried all night, with no success. He looked at the boy who had raised his weapon, ready to plunge it into his heart.

'I'm a Viking, I'M A VIKING' the boy screamed, but he looked frightened. With a more determined look on his face than a few seconds ago he once again raised his weapon. He opened his eyes and looked me, as if he wasn't so sure if he could go through with it. Please don't do it, I growled. Yes, I admit it. I, the mighty Night Fury am afraid. I don't want to die, not like this, all tied up like a fish in a net. The boy shook his head and again he raised that awful weapon. I groaned in defeat and laid my head back on the ground. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see my demise coming. The last thing that I felt before everything went dark was that cursed weapon piercing my heart, stopping it from beating forever.

He did it. He finally proved that he was indeed a Viking. That thought however didn't stop his stomach from turning. He felt violently ill after seeing all of the blood of the dragon gushing out of it's wound. His shirt and vest was covered in blood and so were his hands. 'You know,' Hiccup said to himself 'Forget the whole, cut out your heart and taking it to my father, thing. I'll take my dad here.'

Stoick felt like he was getting a heart attack when he saw his son return to the village, covered in blood leaving a small trail of blood drops behind him. 'Hiccup! By Odin, what happened to you?' he shouted, running towards his son and grasping him firmly by his shoulders. 'I-I'm f-fine dad. I'm fine. It's….not my blood' Hiccup mumbled. 'Then who's blood is it?' Stoick was shaking his son a little now. 'The…Night Fury's.'

'This is no time for jokes son.' Stoick replied, slowly getting angrier, his face turning red. 'I'm not joking dad!' Hiccup said while pushing his father's hands off his shoulders. 'Follow me and see for yourselves.'

'This ought to be good' one Viking muttered to another as he nudged him.

Surprised maybe wasn't the right word to describe the Viking's faces. Gobsmacked came a little bit closer to the right description. Everyone was silent as they gazed at the Night Fury's body, that was now laying in a pool of blood. The dagger was still sticking out of the dragon's chest. Hiccup felt very uncomfortable to be back at this place again, as if unseen eyes were gazing at him, judging him for what he had done. Did he do the right thing to kill the dragon? Hiccup began to have serious doubts, his breathing quickened and he began to panic. He hoped the others didn't notice it. He jumped a little when his father suddenly shouted. 'My son is finally a dragon slayer! I'd never thought I'd live long enough to witness such an amazing event. Three cheers for Hiccup!'

All the Vikings cheered and clapped. A crowd gathered around Hiccup and threw him in the air. He was patted on the shoulder, till they felt bruised. He was friendly stomped on the arms, bruising them even further. A party was given in honor of Hiccup, for killing one of the rarest and most dangerous dragons. The head of the Night Fury was cut off and mounted above the door case of Hiccup's house. This, Hiccup did not like at all. He retreated back to his room, not in the mood for a party.

He sat on his bed with his head in his hands, slowly rubbing his tired eyes. Did I do the right thing? This question was repeating in his head over and over again. His mind's eye kept repeating another scene as well, the pleading, green eyes of the dragon. As if it was begging him not to kill him. And still…he did it. Hiccup felt terrible, he felt like he was a monster. He let himself fall on his back and closed his eyes, a few minutes later he was fast asleep.

A couple of hours later he woke up, surrounded in pitch black darkness. The whole village was deathly still. It seemed the party was over and everyone was sound asleep. Suddenly Hiccup heard an eerie sound, to him it soundly like many voices were whispering. He got up from his bed and went outside. Beer mugs and various bones were scattered across the ground. Looked like all the Vikings had a great feast. The sound of whispering got louder and the knot in Hiccup's stomach tightened. He searched his surroundings to pinpoint where exactly the noise came from. It sounded like it came from above the door case. He slowly turned his head towards the house, afraid of what he would see. His eyes widened when he saw the eyes of the mounted head glowing. Hiccup's face was illuminated by the glow of the Fury's cold eyes. Suddenly a huge shadow sprung towards Hiccup. The ghostly head emerged from the mounted head and was followed by a body, also in shadow form. The creature existed entirely out of shadow and it had the shape of the dragon Hiccup had slain.

The thing jumped onto Hiccup and pinned him against the floor without making a sound. Hiccup wanted to scream, but he was unable to. The creature stared at him, it's pupil-less eyes narrowed. It opened it's mouth and exhaled a smoke-like substance. The smoke crept into Hiccup's mouth, ears and nose. He desperately tried not to inhale the substance, but it looked like the smoke had a mind of it's own. Then the shadow creature vanished into thin air. Hiccup groaned and clutched his sides, a burning pain was spreading across his body. His whole body was in pain, from the top of his head to the sole of his feet. His bones made crackling sounds and started to expand. His fingers were webbed and started to transform into wings. Two new limbs emerged from his chest and it's fingers were claw-like. Hiccup still was unable to scream, but he could hear how his groans of pain turned into growls. With his mouth, which were now filled with razor-sharp teeth, he ripped his clothes off him because they were too small for his growing body. Then the transformation was complete and where once Hiccup was, stood now a dragon. Hiccup's lizard-like eyes almost popped out of his head of fright. He looked his new formed body up and down. He was a dragon! Hiccup finally could scream, only it was not a scream, it was a deafening roar.

'I'm a dragon! I'm a dragon! 'I'm a dragon! Oh Gods, please no!' Hiccup thought over and over again, while wildly stomping around. He tripped and got caught in his massive wings. He tried to wriggle himself free when a voice suddenly shouted: 'Who's making such a racket!' The door in Hiccup's house was swung open and an angry looking Stoick stepped outside. He froze when he saw the dragon laying on the ground, it had pieces of Hiccup's shirt stuck between his teeth.

'Hiccup! No! You…You monster!' Stoick screamed, an immense hatred burning in his eyes. Stoick grabbed his axe and ran towards the helpless dragon. 'Dad! Wait dad, it's me!' Hiccup screamed, he tossed and turned and finally was able to unravel his wings. Hiccup stood up and barely managed to jump away from the axe his father was flinging around. 'Don't hurt me, please! Dad, I'm your son!' But all Stoick could hear were the roars of a dragon. Hiccup ran away, out of the village, his wings being dragged on the ground while leaving marks behind. 'Get that monster! It has killed my son!' He heard his father shout. Hiccup reached the forest and was slowed down by the trees. His wings continuously got caught up in the branches, he managed to tear them off and free himself. He looked back at the village, the angry Vikings looked like small ants to him, he must've run really fast! Unfortunately Hiccup did not notices that he was running towards a small cliff. He felt the earth vanish beneath his paws and he tumbled, while roaring frightened, into a small cove. Landing on his head, he felt his consciousness slipping away and he passed out.

_I realize that my story looks an awful lot like Brother Bear, but I promise to try and keep it original! I hope you readers have enjoyed my story so far! I'll try to write the second chapter as soon as I can._


	2. How to be able to fly

Author's note

Wow! Thanks a lot folks for all the reviews and favorites. I'm glad you are enjoying my story so far! I hope I did not traumatize too many Toothless fans there. I had put up a warning in my previous chapter, but I accidently deleted it before I posted it! Sorry!

MWA220 asked if Hiccup got turned into a dragon by the Gods. Well, they did. But the spirit of Toothless helped the Gods so that Hiccup would transform. Toothless had his revenge shall we say. I hope that answers your question.

Once again I warn for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Enjoy chapter 2!

'Urgh…aaahh, my head….' Hiccup moaned, he opened his eyes and grumbled. 'Great! Now I am seeing stars!' But then he noticed that he was looking up at the night sky. With his hand he gently rubbed the sore spot on his head. 'What a weird dream that wa…..' Hiccup stopped in the middle of his sentence when he saw his hand or shall we say…paw. 'No! Please no!' he cried out when he found out it wasn't a dream. It was his worst nightmare! He tried to get up, but fell back because he was lying on his wings. He rolled around, but had great difficulty getting up because these wings were getting in the way. Suddenly he heard the beating of small wings and felt a light pressure on the pads of his hind legs. He looked up surprised when he saw two terrible terrors sitting on his feet snickering at him.

'Did you see that Picknose?' the yellow one chattered to the other. 'Yes I did Lickeye' the blue one replied. 'I saw how he was DRAGON around his wings like a hatchling!' This bad pun had the two terrors in stitches. They were chittering and making high pitched laughing noises that irritated Hiccup's now very sensitive hearing. His eyes grew wide with surprise when he realized that he could understand them. 'What! That's impossible! Dragons can't talk' he shouted while flailing his limbs around madly. This caused the two terrors to quickly take to the sky. They made a huffing sound before landing on a rock next to Hiccup. The yellow one, probably the leader, looked slightly irritated, probably because Hiccup ruined their fun by throwing them almost off him.

'I expected more of the majestic Shadow Racer.' The yellow one retorted. 'And here I am witnessing this 'powerful beast' crashing on his head, being frightened away by mere Vikings.' Hiccup cocked an eyebrow. 'Shadow Racer? You mean Night Fury!' he replied. 'What's a Night Fury?' The blue one asked before flying up and landing on Hiccup's head. 'You know, I expected a big fight!' Picknose, the blue terror said while looking upside down at Hiccup's face. 'I thought there would be a fight that would dragon and on and on. Did you get that Lickeye? Dragon and on? Hahahahaha.' Lickeye clutched his sides and rolled around on the rock. 'That's a good one Picknose!' Again these high pitched noises irritated Hiccup immensely. 'Stop it! Where am I? Who are you anyway!' He growled. He finally got up by rolling on one side, slowly getting up without trying to trip over his wings again. How could dragons function with these things? It was like having an extra pair of arms. Picknose quickly fluttered off Hiccup's head and landed next to the other terror. 'I guess he must've hit his head pretty hard' he whispered. 'I guess so too' the other one replied.

'Listen here Oh-your-great-Dragon-Leader' Lickeye sarcastically said, 'It was your job to lead the attack of yesterday night. We saw you getting hit and we came to check if you were still alive. You know, it's the first time that I saw you in action and I must say that I am not impressed!' Both terrors had their eyes narrowed as if they were mocking him, but at the same time enjoying it a lot. 'That was not me! That was the other Night Fury.'

'Shadow Racer' Lickeye corrected.

'Whatever! That monster destroyed my village and therefore I killed it!'

'Y-your village? What are you? A pet dragon? Oh that's rich, did you hear that Lickeye?' The blue one said while gently nudging his friend. 'Yes I did! I'm not deaf Picknose!' the yellow one snapped. 'And what's up with those names anyway?' Hiccup asked, getting more and more frustrated by the minute. 'Every time I stick out my tongue I tend to poke my own eyes. Like this!' He stuck out his tongue and accidently hit one of his own eyes. 'And I like to pick my nose. Watch this!'

'No, no no! I get it!' Hiccup quickly replied. 'Fine!' Picknose answered. 'What's you name then?' Hiccup shuffled around a bit with his paws before answering. 'Hiccup.'

'Hiccup? What kind of weird dragon name is that?' Hiccup growled and jumped up, pressing his front paws up on the rock, staring down at the two terrors. 'I'm not a dragon, don't you dare call me that! I'm a human!' The two tiny dragons flew up, obviously frightened out of their wits. Lickeye snorted and said: 'Well don't look now 'human' but your friends are coming' he pointed his head towards where the village was. Hiccup saw lights shining through the trees. It appeared the Vikings were coming this way, probably wielding torches and….axes. 'Good luck!' both terrors chattered before flying away into the night. 'Wait! I can't fly!' Hiccup shouted. He was trapped in the cove! Panicking he looked around, he looked at his wings, his body and then his tail. Then he got an idea.

'Find it! Find that damned demon!' Stoick spat back at some Vikings who were leaning against a tree, out of breath. 'Stoick! They're doing the best they can!' his friend Gobber answered, putting a hand on the angry Viking's shoulder. Stoick rudely shoved the hand of his shoulder. 'That…that beast does not deserve to live! It killed my only child! I will not rest before I have it's blood spread across this damn forest!' Gobber gulped when he heard his friend scream like that. Okay, he was used to Stoick's tempers, but he has never seen him like this. Full of rage and hatred. He understood it though, Hiccup had finally made his father proud and then was abruptly taken away. 'I will tell ya what we'll do friend. We'll check out this cove and then call it a day. I swear we will find him. Just don't take it out on the rest.' It seemed Stoick finally had calmed down a bit. Like reality of Hiccup's 'death' finally had hit him. 'Fine…. Astrid! Snotlout! Check out that cove!' Both the young Vikings walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. It was too dark to really see what was inside it. 'Throw one of your torches down there!' Stoick said. Snotlout threw back his arm and with a mighty swing let go off the torch. The light faded when it hit the water. It made a sizzling sound when the fire went out. 'I don't think he is here sir, this cove is filled with water.' Astrid squinted her eyes. She really thought she saw something moving down there. 'It's no use Stoick, we shall call it a day.' Stoick was too heartbroken to really notice what Gobber was saying, he let him simply be guided back to the village. All the Vikings returned to the village, all but Astrid. She sat down behind a big rock at the edge of the cliff and waited for the sun to rise.

Hiccup lay flat on his belly, eyes shut, his wings outstretched completely to blend himself in with his environment. When he could no longer hear anyone around he stood up and shook the dirt off him. He scanned his surrounds trying to find a way out of here. It amazed him that he could see so much better than when he was a human. His nose was filled with strange smells, he smelled the sea, the wood of the pine trees and a whole lot of different smells that he never smelled before. 'There's got to be a way out of here' he mumbled to himself. He looked at his wings. 'Maybe…..' He raised his wings and flapped them a few times. Then he began to run, trying to gain enough speed. He jumped and….Crashed into a wall and fell flat on his back…again. Also he felt his consciousness slipping away….again. But not before he could've sworn he saw that cursed shadow beast watching over him, on top of a pile of rocks at the edge of the cove, with a stern look on it's face.

Hiccup woke up when he felt a more heavier pressure on his chest. He tried to open his eyes, but quickly closed them again when sunrays temporarily blinded him. 'Get away you pesky terrors! Leave me alone' Trying to swipe them away. Then something hard hit him on the snout. 'Ouch' Hiccup growled and his eyes shot open, he looked right in the face of a certain Viking girl, who did not look too happy. 'This is the beast that killed Hiccup? This clumsy oaf of a dragon.' She screamed. Hiccup froze, how had she found him? In her hand she held an axe. Slowly she began to rise it. 'Clumsy or not, you will pay for what you did to Hiccup' she said. Her voice broke down a bit when she said that, Hiccup had noticed. But his attention was quickly caught by the axe that was looming over his head. With a scream he threw her off him and stood up. 'Augh, damn you!' Astrid shouted. She grabbed her axe and swung it at him. 'Calm down Astrid! You don't want to hurt your friend Hiccup now do you?' He mentally slapped himself when he remembered that people could not understand him. Astrid lunged at him and swung her axe. Hiccup ducked away too late. She managed to make a rather large cut on his chest that began to bleed. Hiccup roared and tried to jump away from her as fast as possible. He flapped his wings while jumping and noticed that he began to hover above the ground. With all his might he kept flapping them again and again. He was doing it! He was flying! Astrid tried to hit him one last time, but he was too high for her now. 'Don't think you'll get rid of me so easily dragon!' Astrid screamed, waving her fist at him.

Astrid was now one of Hiccup's least concerns. His biggest problem now was how to fly away far enough and land safely.

That's chapter two for you now folks. Man, I was hit by a creative mood right now. I hope to get the next chapter up soon!


	3. How to fish and escape like a dragon

Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. School has been very busy, but now I have the time to continue my story. I'm glad you people think my english is good. I feel flattered! And thank you for all the reviews and favorites. And now on with the story!

Rated T: For some swearing and violence

'Okay, easy now, easy now. That's the way to do it! Woaaaaaargh!' Hiccup cried out as a sudden gust of wind pushed him even higher up into the air. He was having great difficulty to keep his wings straight. If he tilted them even slightly to one side he would immediately go to that direction. He realised how important his tail was. Without the fins on the tip of his tail he probably would've been unable to even take to the sky. 'Oh, this is high, this is so very high!' Hiccup tried to resist the urge to shut his eyes, he never was a fan of heights. His limbs were hanging uselessly under him, like deadweight. 'Ouch' he cried out when he smacked one of his paws against a tree top. Quickly he pulled them up against his body, realising how much easier it became to fly.

Suddenly a strong gale threw him off his balance. He started tumbling towards the ground. 'Aaargh, come one! Flap, flap flap!' With all his might Hiccup tried to steady himself, seeing the world spinning around him made him feel scared and nauseous at the same time. 'Hold on there buddy!' a female voice suddenly cried out. He felt a painful jab against his back and suddenly he was flying straight again. Something had knocked him back on the right course. Breathing heavily he looked around to thank his savior, though it was a rather painful rescue. 'Sorry for hurting you, but if you are made up entirely out of spikes it's difficult not to hurt someone,' the voice said laughing. Hiccup looked down and beneath him a Deadly Nadder was flying, cocking her head to look at him with one eye. She showed a toothy smile. 'Th-thanks a lot!' Hiccup stuttered. 'Sure thing' the dragon said. They flew together for a couple of minutes when suddenly Hiccup's stomach started to make a rumbling sound. Rather embarrassed he put a paw on his tummy. 'Are you hungry?' The female laughed. 'I guess a little bit….' Hiccup replied. 'Well, there's a little lake down there. We could catch some fish,' she replied. 'Follow me!'

The Nadder dove immediately to the ground. Just before she was about to hit the ground she made circular movements with her wings a few times to decrease the impact and landed softly on her feet. She looked up at him, waiting patiently. Hiccup gulped and dove as well, unfortuantly he forgot to use his wings for landing. He painfully crashed on the ground and came to a sliding halt, his hind legs sticking comically in the air before landing with a thud on the ground. He wondered if dragons could blush and he slowly looked up at the Nadder who stared at him, cocking one eyebrow, if dragons have eyebrows that is. Then she burst out laughing, stomping her feet on the ground to emphasize her mood. Hiccup stood up and spit out bits of grass and dirt, rubbing the rest of the dust and mud off his face with is paw. 'Hahahaha, oh, hahaha, I'm sorry. But it was so funny' The Nadder cried out, tears streaming down her scaly cheek. Hiccup bowed his head in shame, some dragon he was. He mentally slapped himself again. Don't forget! You're human! A voice in his head shouted. The Nadder put a wing on his back, as to make a comforting gesture. 'No worries, you were probably still dizzy from that fall.' Hiccup looked up 'Yeah, you're probably right.' For the first time since he became a dragon he smiled. 'My name is Hiccup by the way. What's yours?' The Nadder took a step back and answered, 'My name is Indigo.'

Hiccup hated to admit it, but he had a lot of fun trying to catch fish together with Indigo. They spent the whole afternoon jumping in and out of the lake trying to catch the slippery creatures, laughing at each others attempts. Sitting on a rock Hiccup took a swing with his paw, trying to throw one out of the water, but lost his balance and tumbled in the water. Indigo pointed her wing at him and laughed. 'We'll see who laughs last' Hiccup shouted. With his wings he scooped up a lot of water and threw it towards Indigo, because of the gigantic wave caused by Hiccup she was knocked over. It was indeed Hiccup who was laughing last.

Soon it became dark and the dragons were sitting at the bank of the lake resting a bit.

'You know? I'm still hungry, want me to catch some fish for you too?' Indigo asked. Hiccup shook his head. 'No thanks, if I eat even one more fish I'll explode.' Indigo jumped in the lake, splashing Hiccup who was still sitting close to the water. He shook it off of him and looked at his reflection in the lake. He looked almost exactely like the Night Fury he killed. Only their colouration was different. The slain Night Fury was jet black while he was more a carbon black. Also on his chest was the scratch caused by the axe. That was going to leave a mark he thought. His ears drooped when he saw himself, wondering if he ever would become a human again.

Meanwhile a few miles away a search was being held by the villagers of Berk. Spitelout, Snotlout's father, and a group of some of the strongest Viking warriors were searching for Hiccup, even though they did not get a good look at the dragon, Astrid had provided them with pretty accurate description. It's skin colouration was gray, with brown, little spots spread across the tips of his wings. Astrid believed the creature was either sick or wounded because it flew away rather clumsy. Infact the dragon's whole behaviour was rather clumsy. 'Alright men, if it's wounded it can't be far away. Keep quiet now, it may even look at us this very minute. Remember the boss his words, if you see it, kill it. Show no mercy!' Having said that they stomped towards the lake. Both dragons not knowing about the trouble they would be facing soon.

A troubeled Hiccup was still staring at his reflection in the water. It began to wrinkle and suddenly Indigo popped out of the water. Hiccup jumped a bit because he had forgotten that he was not alone here. 'What's the matter Hiccup?' she mumbled, her mouth full of fish. 'It…it's nothing. You would never believe me.' Indigo stepped out of the water, shaking the water off her hide while spreading around little droplets of water, and sat next to him. 'You can tell me everything. I've heard weird stories before. Like that Flame Body who claimed that she could put her whole foot in her mouth. Ofcourse nobody believed that. But she could! I saw it with my own eyes, or eye. I can't really look straight ahead because of this horn on my nose.' Hiccup chuckled 'Well, actually it's even weirder than that.' Indigo's head suddenly perked up. The spikes on her head were standing up like the way a cat's fur would stand up if it were scared. 'Shush, did you hear that?' she asked her voice sounding concerned. 'What do you hear?' Hiccup whispered, crouching down a bit like he was expecting to be attacked at any moment. 'I think I hear footsteps, they're walking on their hind legs, there's only one beast that walks on two legs. Well, yeah I walk on two legs as well, but you get my idea.' Hiccup gulped, he knew what was coming.

'There! By the lake! It's the beast!' An angry voice shouted. The Vikings came charging out of the forest towards them, their weapons raised high in the air ready to swipe any dragon's head clean off their shoulders. 'Hiccup! Fly away! Come on!' Indigo shouted, she sprung in the air and flapped her wings, hovering above the ground while waiting for Hiccup. He jumped and flapped his wings as well, but suddenly crashed back on the ground. 'Damn useless wings!' he cursed, trying to regain his footing. 'He's on the ground! Kill it!' The Vikings came dangerously close. A flamethrower cut them off. Hiccup looked up and saw Indigo, with an enraged look on her face. 'Why can't you leave us alone! You damned two-legged freaks!' She dove towards, knocking a few of them over. She turned around in the air and picked a target. She looked like she was ready to kill every last one of them. She went for Spitelout, Hiccup recognized the tough Viking lying on the ground. Indigo screeched and dove towards the downed Viking. 'No!' Hiccup screamed, he jumped and pushed Indigo away just before she could make an end to Spitelout's life. The impact made her smack against a rock. Bewilderd she looked at him. 'Hiccup, what on earth are you doing?' She turned her head when she heard a Viking scream while he was charging towards her, a club in his hand. He swung it at Indigo and managed to hit one of her legs, making a crackling sound. 'Aah! My leg!' The Viking tried to swing the club again, this time aiming for the head. Just in time Hiccup jumped infront of her and swung his tail. He hit the Viking in his belly sending him a few yards away right into the lake. 'Indigo! We have to go! Come on!' He nudged her with his snout. With a pain stricken face she managed to hop on her good leg and jump in the air. Hiccup took a deep breath and jumped in the air as well, trying to remember how he flew in the air for the first time. He stretched his tail fins and flapped his wings. He felt how he was gaining speed and he flew into the air. They were safe! But for how long?

'Aargh…..my leg' the female muttered. She cringed in pain, her wounded leg hanging down. It looked like it was broken. 'I'm so sorry! This is all my fault' Hiccup said, feeling a pang of guilt in his heart. 'We need to get you some help.' Indigo gave Hiccup a hard look, then sighed. 'I know where we can go…. Follow me.' She turned towards the ocean proceeding towards the misty peaks miles away. Hiccup knew this was going to be a long flight and a very long night. He sighed and flew after Indigo.

That's chapter 3 for you. I will try to update as soon as possible. If it takes some time between chapters to be posted have no fear! I'm not abandoning this story, I'm just very busy then.


	4. How to find a dragon's den

And chapter 4 is on it's way. Thanks for all the favorites and reviews guys! I'm flattered! I consider myself to be more of a drawer (drawing pictures that is) than a writer, but I have so much fun writing this story. I got some advice about trying to creat more paragraphs, so that the story is easier to read. I shall give it a try and hope that from now on it will be easier on the eyes ;)

On with the story!

The moon and stars shone brightly that evening as Indigo and Hiccup flew towards their destination. The sea looked beautiful when it reflected the light, Hiccup thought. He desperately searched for something to occupy his mind with. Since the sea and the stars were the only things around him, he decided that would do. Hiccup never experienced such a tremendous amount of guilt before. He almost did not dare to look at Indigo, especially at her leg. She had trouble pulling it up against her body, making her flying look rather clumsy and unprofessional.

She had not said a word to him ever since they left the forest. She was probably furious at him right now and he could not blame her. But he could not just let one of his own kind get killed off? If he could choose a side, he would still fight for the humans. But when he met Indigo, he did not know what to think. She was nice….. But she is probably the exception. Dragons are vile monsters and they will always stay that way, Hiccup thought to himself. Indigo suddenly interrupted his thoughts: 'We're almost there Hiccup. Stay close to me now… It's easy to get lost in the mist.' Hiccup saw a bank of clouds a few miles away from them. The mist was very thick and it was probably wise to stay close to Indigo. Eerie rock formations could be seen here and there as they got closer. Not only could you get lost, but you could also slam into a wall if you were not careful. 'So this is where the dragons live' he whispered to himself. 'No wonder dad could never find it.'

Indigo took a left turn, then a right turn, then another right turn, walls zooming past them. Hiccup had no idea how anyone could have found his way in this maze. 'Hiccup…' Indigo softly said, 'why did you protect that monster?' His ears drooped when he heard how her voice was filled with sadness and confusion. 'It's…It's hard to explain. Indigo, I'm so sorry you're hurt and I know it's my fault. But please understand that I…..' Hiccup kept quiet when he suddenly saw something moving from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look, the only thing he could see was a trail of smoke, black smoke. Hiccup growled, could it be the black creature that made his life so miserable? He turned his head towards Indigo, but she was gone. 'Indigo? Indigoooooo! Where are you?' No answer. He flapped his wings backwards in circular movements, making himself hover. He looked left and right, but he was alone. A sound rumbled across the misty peaks, he could not pinpoint where the noise was coming from. He saw a figure reappearing and disappearing between the rock formations.

'Show yourself!' Hiccup shouted, he feared for what was coming. There! On his left! Hiccup opened his mouth to roar, he hoped that would scare off the creature. But suddenly he felt how his teeth retracted back in his gums and a fiery sensation started to develop in the back of his throat. A blue ball of flame shot out of his mouth, hitting a nearby rock pile that crumbled into the ocean. Hiccup's mouth stayed open in amazement. Did he just breath fire? _'Never thought you would be such a hot-head, little hatchling' _a voice suddenly said in his head. Hiccup covered his head with his paws, trying to banish the voice out of it. It was using telepathy to communicate. 'Shut up! Shut up! Why are you doing this to me?' Hiccup shouted.

The figure emerged out of nowhere and looked at him. _'If you still have to ask that question, it means you have learned nothing!' _It sneered at him. It's pupil-less eyes narrowed for a moment when it looked at Hiccup. Then his expression shifted. Hiccup noticed that it looked sad. _'You killed me….' _It whispered. Hiccup gulped, images of that day flashed before his mind's eye. Could his guilt get any bigger? 'But you….. You attacked my village! How can you blame me?'

The creature growled and charged at Hiccup. He yelped and quickly dove towards the ocean, pulling himself up at the last moment before he crashed into the sea. _'Because you could have put an end to this war! _It screamed. Hiccup looked around, but he could not see the smoke creature. 'What do you mean? I don't understand! Please, what do you want from me…..' A tear trickled down Hiccup's face. Was he to be destined for something great? Had he ruined it by killing that monster? There were so many questions and no answers. He felt so tired, he wanted to be alone, how he hoped this was all just a bad dream. Unfortuantly it wasn't. _'I can't interfere with ones life lessons.I can't give you answers. You have to find out for yourself…' _The shadow dragon appeared infront of Hiccup, startling him. Hiccup clung himself onto a rock, scared out of his wits. Was it going to kill him now? Was he just here to get his revenge? _'I can't rest until you find them… Thanks to you I have not fulfilled my purpose on this earth.' _It came closer towards Hiccup untill they were face to face. _'You'll be seeing me…hatchling'_

Hiccup growled, baring his teeth. 'No! I never want to see you again! Leave me alone!' He opened his mouth and blasted another fireball at the creature. It simply vanished in a puff of smoke. _'You'll be seeing me,' _the voice lingered on for a few seconds before fading away. 'Yeah! You fly away! Coward! And don't come back!' Hiccup was furious, he roared and fried every rock with his fiery breath that got in his way. 'What in the name of Odin are you doing kid!'a booming male voiced suddenly shouted.

Hiccup turned around, but before he could answer he was caught by two gigantic, red talons. It pinned it's wings and limbs against his body. 'Don't you know it's forbidden to breath fire in the dragon's den?' the male asked, 'You could hurt someone.' Hiccup looked at the talons that were holding him. Then he looked up at the body of the creature. It's skin was an orangry-red with black stripes. He had no front legs, instead he got a pair of huge, striped wings. It was a Monstrous Nightmare, the biggest one he had ever seen. The Nightmare pulled his hind legs up to inspect his prisoner.

'What do we have here?' he snorted, sending waves of hot air onto Hiccup's face, who squinted his eyes. Was it going to eat him? Dragons are not cannibals… Are they? 'I've never seen you here before. What are you doing here?' the dragon kept asking him questions while Hiccup could not provide him with any answers. 'What's your rank? Scout? Warrior? Collector?' Hiccup kept silent, thinking that was the best option to survive this ordeal. 'What's the matter? Terror got your tongue?' Again, he got no answer. The Nightmare growled irritated, 'Well, little, mister hot-head. Let's see what the others think of you .' Having said that, he flew deeper into the fog. Hiccup could not see where they were going, the only thing he did see was the yellow belly of the Nightmare. The dragon suddenly released him and he tumbled into a cave, skidding to a halt on the floor.

'Urgh…' Hiccup groaned as he stood up. Where was he? Looking around he saw that he was in an enormous cave. It stretched out for miles. Looking up he saw that the cave was several levels high. Many different kind of dragon breeds were spread across the cave. Some hung upside down, like bats, sleeping. Others were chasing one another in a game of tag. Some were huddled together and it looked like they were having conversations. There were green dragons, yellow ones. He even saw a couple of breeds that he had never seen before. Most dragons had one head, some two and others three! The ground shook as the Nightmare landed. He pushed Hiccup forward with his snout.

Hiccup noticed that he did not see any dragons that looked like him. It appeared he was the only Night Fury in the cave. When he and the Nightmare started walking, heading towards an unknown destination, several dragons stopped their activities and looked at him. Hiccup felt uneasy, what were they staring at? It's not like they've never seen a Fury before? With his keen hearing Hiccup could overhear some of the whispers that floated around the cave. 'Is that the one who saved a Viking?' a Zippleback asked his other head. 'I think so, it's his fault that the Nadder got hurt.' They both grimaced and snarled softly at Hiccup.

'Hey! Hey Lickeye! Do you see what I see?' a shrill voice shouted. 'Yes, I do Picknose!' another one replied, also with a shrill voice. 'Oh nooooo..' Hiccup moaned as he recognized the voices. The two terrors fluttered down and landed on his head. 'Nice to see you again Crash Racer, I mean, Shadow Racer.' The blue one mockingly said. Hiccup shook his head, but the Terrors remained. Slightly digging their claws into his skin so that they would not fall off. 'Hey, stop that! It hurts!' Hiccup growled. 'Well, it does not look like you're in the position to command us.' Lickeye said. Hiccup sighed and kept on walking. Could his day get any worse?

'Keep moving, keep moving Shadow Racer. And you two, puny excuses for a dragon, beat it!' The Nightmare snorted and the blast of wind from his nostrils sent the two Terrors flying. They both yelped of fright and landed on the ground. Immediately they jumped up and snarled at the red dragon, yelling curse words that would make a Viking blush. The Nightmare simply ignored them and kept shoving Hiccup. 'Will you stop pushing me already!' Hiccup growled, getting fed up. 'Where are we going anyway?' The dragon looked down on him and replied with a snarl: 'Somewhere where you'll be judged and you'd better pray for a positive outcome.'

Hiccup swallowed and decided it would be best to keep quiet. Finally they reached their destination. Hiccup looked around in amazement. The cave contained an underground spring, the moonlight that peeked through the cracks on the ceiling made the water glistend. The lights reflected on the walls, making the entire room sparkle. Large stone pads emerged from the water here and there. Two dragons where sitting on the largest stone pad. Another one was lying on the ground. There was a Hideous Zippleback, whose heads were arguing with eachother. It's skin was light green and he or she had a yellow underbelly. The rest of the body was covered in brown and darkgreen spots. The second one was a Gronckle, a short and stubby, brown dragon. It was covered in grey and lightbrown warts. It had tiny wings which reminded Hiccup of a humming bird. The third dragon was…..Indigo!

Hiccup's heart made a leap for joy. He was relieved to find his friend, he was afraid that the shadow dragon, or demon as Hiccup liked to call him, had caught her. All dragons looked up as Hiccup and the Nightmare entered the cave. 'Who is this, Blister?' One of the Zippleback's heads asked. So that was his name? Dragons sure have weird names Hiccup thought to himself. Blister pointed his head at the human-dragon and spoke: 'I found this young dragon, trying to barbeque our homes.' The Zippleback came crouching towards them, it had arched it's back slightly, stepping rather nervous towards the newcomer. It lowered it's heads and inspected the Shadow Racer.

'I say we should punish him, feed him to the queen perhaps?' The left head said.

'Are you crazy? Everybody deserves a second chance.' The right one replied.

'Oh, you were always a soft one, Tusk' The left one sneered.

'And you were always a brute. By the way, I'm Fang. You are Tusk. Can't you still remember the name mother has given to you?' The right head cocked an eyebrow and looked cynical at the other.

'No, You are Tusk and I'm Fang! Sheep brain!'

'Bobble head!'

'Swamp gas!'

'I think we should give him a welcome hug!' The Gronckle suddenly blurted out.

'Shut it Snort!' Both heads cried out. The Gronckle whimpered a bit, but remained silent.

'Now what to do with you?' Both heads murmered, forgetting about their argument. 'That welcome hug sounded nice,' Hiccup replied with a hint of sarcasme. The heads growled and narrowed their eyes. 'Is this your Viking-loving-friend, Indigo?' Fang, or was it Tusk, asked. The Nadder looked up from her spot. Her face lit up when she saw her friend. 'Hiccup! You've made it!' She tried to stand up, but quickly collapsed on the ground. Fang and Tusk, Blister and Snort hurried over to the her. They looked at eachother with concern. 'If she can't get back to work, she'll be eaten by the queen,' Snort whimpered, tears starting to form in his eyes. 'Stop being so sentimental, you sniveling warthog.' Blister growled.

Hiccup cocked his head in confusion. What on earth were they talking about? 'It's all your fault! You traitor!' Snort suddenly shouted. He jumped up and sprung towards Hiccup, his face contorted with fury. 'If you had not saved that human, Indigo would've been fine!' He opened his mouth to unleash a fireball. Hiccup cried out in surprise and jumped away, barely managing to avoid the ball of fire. He jumped towards a wall, pushed himself off of it and sprung towards the Gronckle. He let himself fall on top of Snort and pressed his paws on the Gronckle's nose with great force, making him clamp his jaws together. 'Lerrmtt me goorerrer' Snort muttered, trying to shake the human-dragon off of him.

Hiccup realized how strong he was. He was not used to this much strength, he had always been a fragile human, the weakest Viking of them all. He grinned because of his new found strength. 'Enough you two! Stop it! And you!' Blister said while looking at Hiccup: 'Down!' Hiccup quickly jumped off of Snort. 'You know, a punishment doesn't sound too bad now.' One Zippleback head said to another. Hiccup's ears and side frills drooped, he really had done it now. 'No! He doesn't need to be punished. Leave him alone!' Indigo growled, frantically trying to stand up, but failing nonetheless.

'But he's the one who got you in this mess in the first place' Blister looked at her with an expression that showed he thought that she'd gone insane. 'Maybe, but he was also the one that saved me. I'm sure he's got a pretty good explanation for it.' She turned her head to the side to look at Hiccup with one eye. 'Right, Hiccup?' Her face showed that she was worried and that she did not really believe her own words. 'Uhh…..S-sure, ofcourse I got a good explanation for this.' He replied while fidgeting with his claws. He could never explain this, they'd think he'd gone insane if he told them about his transformation and the shadow dragon.

'I…uhm. I don't like killing. I would never harm a creature, even if it attacked me! I could not live with myself if I had killed someone. The only things I kill are fishes, for my own survival ofcourse.' That speech did not sound too bad, he thought to himself, very proud of his lie.

'He's just as soft as you Tusk.'

'I'm not soft, and my name is Fang!'

'Is not.'

'Is too.'

'Is not.'

'Shut up!' Blister shouted. 'Look kid. In this world it's kill or be killed. Thanks to you a dragon got hurt. If we're not able to heal her soon, she'll be just another crunchy snack for the queen!'

'Who's this queen you are speaking of?' Hiccup asked. Just as he finished his question a terrifying roar echoed through the cave, shaking down to the very foundation of it. Rocks crumbled from the ceiling, almost hitting some of the dragons on the head.

'That's the queen.' Blister simply replied.

And that's chapter 4 for you. I have nothing else to say, hahaha. I wish all you guys an early merry christmas, incase I'm so busy that I won't be able to update untill after Christmas. I'll hope to post a new chapter soon! 


	5. How to fear a dragon

Hey everyone. I hope you guys all had a great Christmas and a happy new year! I know I did. I'm sorry for the long wait! I was having a little bit of a writersblock after being so lazy during vacation. 

I got an unusual request from 'Reckless and Co.' He or she asked me if I could put his character in the story, I must say that I feel flattered to be asked for something like this. I shall give his/her character a small role in one of my upcoming chapters. And now on with the story.

Rated T for some swearing, gore and violence!

'Not here, not here. NOT HERE!' Stoick shouted as he violently scratched x-marks in the map on the table. It actually couldn't be called a map anymore, he had carved it so many times that only scraps of map were left. 'Where is that abomination?' With his arm he swooped the pieces of paper off the table, sending it flying into the air.

One of the pieces fluttered onto Gobber's face who just entered the angry Viking's house. 'Prffft, goodevening Stoick.' He said as he blew the paper away with his breath. 'Psshh, 'good' evening…. What's so good about it, Gobber?' Stoick huffed. Gobber scratched his neck with his good arm. 'I guess, not so much. The tribe is waiting for your arrival. It's time to bury Hiccup….' Hearing that, Stoick rammed the knife in the wooden table. The knife slightly vibrated before coming to a complete stop. 'What is there to bury, Gobber? That demon swallowed him whole! Bits of clothing is all that is left of him!'

Stoick walked around the table, plucking the knife out of the table. 'And what happens to a Viking who can not be buried? He will become a Draugr and roam the earth forever, never finding peace!' Gobber ducked when Stoick passed him. While he was talking he was waving the knife around carelessly. 'Easy there, buddy. I don't want to lose an eye! Eyepatches are not fashionable.' Stoick pointed his knife at him, Gobber looked at him, rather unimpressed. 'I will not let a dragon ruin my son's chance for a good afterlife. I will kill it and avenge his death! I swear it will die by my hands, if it's the last thing I'll ever do!' After this outburst, he hung his head in defeat. The rage had tired him, making his breath become irregular. Gobber approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. 'And you will find the dragon. Come one, Stoick. It is time.'

The whole village gathered around a small boat that lay on the shore of a pebble beach. The boat was filled with items believed to be useful in the afterlife. There was food, vases filled with water, spears, axes, horns, even sketches of inventions Hiccup had designed. One of these sketches contained the picture of his latest creation. A catapult, the one he used to capture the Night Fury with. The invention itself was stowed away in the weaponary hut of the village. In a normal Viking burial, the body would lay in the middle, with his or her hands laying on top of a weapon. However, there was no body to be found in this burial. The only thing that remained of Hiccup, and that was put in the boat, were pieces of clothing from his shirt and vest.

Stoick was standing at the stern of the boat. The whole tribe stood silent, but Stoick could've sworn he saw Astrid quickly wiping her face. Had she been crying? Stoick shook his head and looked back at his son's 'grave'. He put a hand on the boat and spoke: 'My dear son. May you be allowed in Walhalla. You have proven yourself to be a worthy member of our tribe. I swear the demon that killed you will die a horrible death.' Having said that, two Vikings walked towards the boat and pushed it into the sea. The tribe looked on as the raft drifted away into the open ocean. Nobody saw how a tear trickled down Stoick's face.

Another roar filled the cave. Various dragons rushed towards the sound instead of going into the opposite direction, which Hiccup expected they would do. 'Come on, young dragon. The queen wants to see us.' Blister turned around and looked at Indigo and the rest. 'Every one of us.' Snort, Tusk and Fang looked at eachother and sighed. Snort gently pushed Indigo up on the Zippleback's back. She grunted as she had to turn and twist so she would not sit on her wounded leg. 'Alright. Are you ready?' Blister looked at the group, then took off. Hiccup growled nervously, he already disliked this 'queen.' He stretched out his wings and jumped in the air, flapping his wings to gain speed.

Following Blister through the darkness of the cave, Hiccup realised how big the dragon's den was. There must reside thousands and thousands of dragons here! A bright red light caught his attention, it appeared that they reached the centre of the den. Lava poured out of various holes in the walls, making it very hot in the room and making steam rise. Hiccup and the rest of the group landed on the ground, even the floor was hot, but not hot enough to make you jump around like a fool. In the middle of the cave there was a lavapit, rumbling sounds echoing against the red hot walls.

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut in pain as a buzzing sound invaded his ears. He could almost feel the soundwaves entering his head, trying to lodge themselves deep into his brain. The noise suddenly disappeared as quickly as it came, Hiccup looked around very confused. Every dragon around him had their eyes closed and grunted in pain, some were pawing their heads. A terrifying growl emerged from the lavapit and up rose one of the biggest dragons Hiccup had ever seen. It's skin was a light green, red spikes decorating it's back. It had a giant, mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and six, malicious eyes looked down on the other dragons.

'Y-your highness,' Blister muttered sounding not so brave as he sounded before. 'You called for us?' The queen just stared down at him and Hiccup was surprised when Blister replied. She had not said anything, or had she? 'We d-don't know where he is, my queen. But the raid was still succesful.' The queen turned her head and saw the human dragon. Hiccup stood firm on the ground, not bowing like the others. 'Kid! What are you doing? Bow for our queen!' Immediateley Hiccup let himself fall flat on his belly. Nice first impression, Hiccup! He thought to himself. 'He's a stranger who was roaming outside the den. I don't know if he can hear you, your highness.' Blister looked into Hiccup's eyes, a confused expression on his face.

'I-I don't know what you are talking about, Blister.' Hiccup mumbled, not liking it that he was the centre of attention now. The queen's head came closer and her nostrils flared. 'Your thoughts….I can't read them…' The queen whispered, her voice sounded harsh and dangerous. 'Probably because he has no brain!' A high voice replied, followed by shrill laughter. 'Damn Terrors,' Hiccup mumbled. 'Silence!' The queen roared! The laughing seized immediateley. Every dragon, including Hiccup, flattened themselves even more to the ground. The roar shook the earth and made stones fall from the ceiling, yelps of pain were heard when rocks hit their target.

'I have no use for another Shadow Racer! One of those self-absorbed ants is more than enough! Search for Jet and bring him back!' The queen roared at some Nadders, who took off in a second to search for the missing Night Fury. 'As for you, I think you will do just fine as my dessert!' The giant dragon opened her mouth, ready to swallow Hiccup whole. He backed away as fast as he could, but there was no escape and he certainly would not get any help from the others. 'No! Please, don't eat me! He's dead, he's dead! I saw it with my own eyes!' Hiccup was literally with his back against the wall, he made himself as small as possible and covered his eyes with his paw, waiting for his life to end.

Hiccup felt the queen's hot breath on his back. 'He's dead?' She growled. She reared her head back and looked at the shivering human dragon. 'H-he was captured and killed by a Viking. They mounted his head on a door case. I-I saw the whole thing!' He lifted one of his paws to look at her face, he was happy she could not read his thoughts because he would surely be killed if she could! The queen was pondering for a few minutes, muttering to herself. 'This is not good… We need a Shadow Racer to eliminate the towers…. She shook her head and growled angry. 'I guess I have no choice, but to let you live…for now!' Hiccup gulped, he felt light in the head, he hoped he would not faint because of his near-death experience. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the queen was looking at the wounded Indigo, lieing on the back of the Hideous Zippleback.

'What…..is…this,' the queen asked, barely trying to hide her anger. 'A wounded dragon? Have you idiots forgotten what I've told you? Wounded dragons are weaklings! We let them die on the battlefield and we do NOT waste our precious energy on helping them! Remember this! You are all replaceable!' Having said that the queen opened her mouth and charged for Tusk, Fang and Indigo. 'Indigo! Noooo!' Hiccup screamed. He leaped towards his wounded friend and knocked her off the back of the two-headed dragon. She slid on the ground for a few meters and came to a halt, Hiccup came tumbling after her. He crashed on top of her but luckely missed her bad leg. The Zippleback was unfortuantly not so lucky. The jaws came crashing down ontop of Tusk and Fang. With a sickening crunch the queen ended the life of the dragon. Blood dripped on the floor and splattered on the walls as the queen picked up the corpse and gulped it down.

Hiccup looked on in horror, with eyes wide open, his pupils turning into slits. He gagged, but managed to keep his stomach contents inside his body. 'You little, worthless worm. Step aside!' The queen hollered. 'She's my dessert!' She pushed her face towards Hiccup keeping her head only a few inches away from him. Hiccup bared his teeth and roared and growled with all his might. 'No! You will not have her!' He swiped one of his claws, scratching the nose of the queen. She did not even flinch. 'Do you want to fight me, Shadow Racer?' Hiccup growled nervously and replied: 'No! I do not want to fight you. I want to make a deal.' For a few seconds, all that could be heared was silence, then the queen reared her head back and laughed. 'I don't make deals with little useless food providers.'

Hiccup stretched out his wings, using them as a barrier to protect the Nadder. 'If you kill her, then you will have to find yourself a new Shadow Racer. Because I will be leaving!' Hiccup first wanted to say: if you kill her then you have to kill me, but the slaughtering of Tusk and Fang hadn't made him as brave as he wanted to be. The laughing seized and the queen looked down on them, casting a gigantic shadow on the poor pair. Six eyes narrowed, black slits filled with hate.

'So…Do we have a deal?' Hiccup asked.

Hope I didn't frighten you guys! It's a bit bloodier than my other chapters. At first I wanted to kill off Snort, but I didn't have the heart to do so. I chose for the Zippleback, since one dies in the movie as well. Also I believed they looked too much like my Terrible Terror characters.

I still have a lot of fun writing this story, but there is one thing that keeps bothering me. I have the feeling I'm always using the same words over and over again. When I read other stories I just love the way it is written and some stories even look poetic to me. I feel like I'm using way too many sentences that look the same. Damn it for being born in a non-english country XD. Hope I'm making sense to you guys about what I mean.

Anyway, sorry for the long wait! I hope to update soon!


	6. How to win a race

**Hey everyone! Thanks for all your nice words! It really gives me enough confidence to make something of this story. No more depressing author notes! For the two people who asked for a cameo appearance, your characters will pop up somewhere near the end of my story, so be patient! Please provide me with a short description of your character. However, I can't accept more characters because otherwise I will not know how to insert them in the story. Sorry!**

**The song featured in this chapter is called 'The Voice' and it sung by the 'Celtic Woman.' You can find the song on Youtube. It is very lovely and it really matches in my fanfic. I will change some of the words in the lyrics so that it fits more in the story. **

**And now on with the story!**

A soft, female voice lingered on in the wind, slowly waking Hiccup up. However, he did not want to wake up. He wanted to stay asleep so he would not be tormented by all the thoughts running through his head. He did not want to think about all the crazy stuff that happened to him, he simply wanted to forget everything. He certainly did NOT want to think about the ghost dragon. Jet? That was his name right? 'Stop!' said Hiccup to himself. 'You're thinking again! Go to sleep!'

The singing became louder and it came closer. Annoyed, and a little bit frightened, he opened his eyes. Where was he anyway? Everything around him was white. There was no environment, just a white, empty space. Hiccup stood up and padded around. The ground felt soft, a bit like moss. A soft breeze touched his face, it felt like someone was stroking his cheeks in a comforting way. The singing was now so close, that Hiccup could understand what she was singing.

_I hear your voice on the wind  
And I hear you call out my name_

Mist was floating in the air, it whirled around and mashed itself together. The figure of a woman appeared, Hiccup jumped back out of fright. 'W-who are you?' he asked completely gob smacked. Would these mad events never cease? The woman smiled and gestured him to come closer. 'S-stay away from me!' he growled.

"_Listen, my child," she says to me  
"I am the voice of your history  
Be not afraid, come follow me  
Answer my call, and I'll set you free"_

The woman turned around and floated away. If I'm ever to leave this place, I'd better follow her, Hiccup thought to himself. As he ran after her, raindrops fell from the sky. When they splashed on the ground, plants began to grow. Flower buds bursted out of the ground and opened up revealing roses, daisies and all kinds of other flowers. Hiccup looked around in amazement as the woman continued to sing.

_I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain  
I am the voice of your hunger and pain  
I am the voice that always is calling you  
I am the voice, I will remain_

The colors of the leaves changed and they withered away. Instantly snow began to fall and covered the landscape with a white blanket. Rapidly the season changed from summer to autumn, from autumn to winter. From winter to spring and from spring to summer. It kept repeating itself in a beautiful haze of colors.

_I am the voice in the fields when the summer's gone  
The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow  
Ne'er do I sleep throughout all the cold winter long  
I am the force that in springtime will grow_

The woman stopped at the edge of a meadow. Hiccup stood beside her and looked at the scene that was unfolding there. Dragons and Vikings were fighting each other, blood was flying around and screams of pain filled the air. Various corpses were spread across the grassland, both from Vikings and dragons. Hiccup cringed and turned his head away. This was too intense for him.

_I am the voice of the past that will always be  
Filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields_

The woman grabbed one of the frills on his head and gently turned his head towards the scene, it had changed. The Vikings and dragons were gone, instead there was a boy and a dragon. The dragon was tied up and a boy was looming over the dragon, holding a knife. Hiccup was looking at himself! The duplicate released the dragon from it's boundings and the scene rapidly changed yet again. He could see himself feeding the dragon a fish. Then he saw himself sitting on top of the dragon flying through the sky. Now his duplicate was playing with the dragon. The creature was jumping around trying to catch him, the duplicate was laughing while trying to escape the dragon's playful clutches. Now he saw himself sitting on top of the Night Fury, battling the queen. 'What is this? Why am I friends with that monster?' Hiccup asked. The woman did not reply, instead she began to sing again.

_I am the voice of the future, bring them your peace  
Bring them your peace, and their wounds, they will heal_

Hiccup looked at the woman questionably. She released him and started walking again. His duplicate and the Night Fury had disappeared. The scenery faded away and once again they were surrounded by nothing but white.

_I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain  
I am the voice of your hunger and pain  
I am the voice that always is calling you  
I am the voice_

'Please stop walking,' Hiccup begged, 'I don't understand. Was what you showed me the future?' The woman ignored him and sung her last verse.

_I am the voice of the past that will always be  
I am the voice of your hunger and pain  
I am the voice of the future  
I am the voice, I am the voice  
I am the voice, I am the voice_

Both were silent for a couple of seconds. The woman just stood there, with her hands folded as if she was waiting for something. Hiccup felt uneasy, 'T-that was beautiful.' He said, showing a toothless smile, though it was a rather nervous and uncertain one. 'Thank you very much, young Hiccup.' His ears perked up, 'how do you know my name and what is yours?' Took a few steps towards him and answered. 'My name is Frigg, I am the Goddess and mother of all living things.' Hiccup gasped and immediately bowed his head. 'I know you! My father told stories about you, you can see in the future. Please Goddess, I beg of you. Will I ever be a human again?' Hiccup kept bowing his head, fearing that her expression would foretell him the answer he never hoped to hear.

'It is true that I can see into the future. But I won't tell you what will happen.' Hiccup reared his head in shock. 'What? Why not? What was that all about then, with me and the dragon?'

'That was the future as it would have been, had you spared the Night Fury. Since you changed the future by killing him, I am allowed to show you what would have happened had he still lived. You two would've made a good team.' Hiccup's mouth fell open in shock. 'Me? Friends with that monster? That would never happen!' He turned his back on her, shaking his head. He could not believe his ears, why on earth would he ever be friends with a dragon. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. 'Why did the Gods punish me?' he whispered, 'I only did what a Viking is made to do. We kill dragons! Life has always been like that. Frigg shook her head. 'Hiccup, this is a life lesson. In order to make this world a better place you will have to learn what your purpose in this life is. Jet is the one who came up with the idea of transforming you and we helped him fulfill his plan. It may not seem like it, but he did this for your own good.'

Hiccup's pupils turned into slits, he shoved the hand off of him and jumped away. 'My own good?' he snarled, 'my father wants to kill me, an angry dragon, the size of a mountain tried to eat me and you are saying this is for my own good?' Freya kept smiling, even after Hiccup's anger attack. She walked over towards him and gently put her hands on his cheeks. Tears were filling his eyes as he looked up to her. 'Dear, young Hiccup. In time you will understand.' Hiccup still felt sad, but this friendly gesture made him feel a little bit better. 'You are the first, friendly person I met in a while.' Hiccup said. 'Is that true, Hiccup?' the Goddess asked. Indigo…. Hiccup thought. How could he forget her kindness? Hiccup's ears and side frills drooped when he thought of the blue dragon. 'Well, thanks for the kind words, Hiccup. I thought you could use some positive encouragement' The Goddess said. She winked at him and then….she was gone leaving Hiccup alone in the white void.

'Wake up, you lazy bum!' A shrill voice suddenly said. Hiccup felt something jump on top of his head and his eyes popped open. He was back in the dragon's den and something was bouncing up and down on his head. 'He's awake, he's awake!' Picknose shouted while jumping up and down. 'Please get off me… You're giving me a headache!' Hiccup grumbled. 'Oh, sorry mighty Shadow Racer.' Hiccup's ears perked up as the blue Terror jumped off. 'Since when do you listen to me?' Hiccup stood up and shook himself a little bit, he yawned and stretched his tired limbs. 'Since you stood up to our terror, I mean queen and managed to make a deal with her.' The tiny dragon happily replied. 'Yeah!' Lickeye shattered, 'you were really brave. Except for that part where you fainted. That was lame.'

'She…she accepted it?' Hiccup stuttered. 'She sure did!' a booming voice behind Hiccup replied, making him jump several feet into the air. It was Blister, and he was smiling? The human dragon never thought he would've lived to see the day that a Monstrous Nightmare smiled. 'But why? Why on earth would she give in to my offer?' Hiccup knew that a Night Fury was a dangerous dragon, but the queen could've easily killed him with just one claw. 'Because without a Shadow Racer our attempts to raid the Viking village would be futile. As you know, Shadow Racers are the fasted dragons around. Their shots never miss and they don't have shot limits, unlike some types of dragons.' Blister explained. 'Shadow Racers destroy the watch towers and weapons of our enemies. If the would fail to do that, the rest of us would be easy prey. Shadow Racers distract the Vikings while the rest of us gather the food.'

'You mean steal the food,' Hiccup growled. Blister snarled at the young Viking dragon. 'Why do you keep defending them? We need to gather their food otherwise we would be killed by the queen. If we gave her the food that we hunt for ourselves in the woods, we all would die of starvation!' Hiccup cringed slightly as the Nightmare shouted those words. So none of the food that they stole was meant for them? 'A dragon her size needs lots of food. We barely get to eat anything ourselves. 'Many of us have already died of starvation….. The young, the weak, the old. Only the strongest of us survive,' Blister whispered, his anger now completely gone. 'I have lost half of my family because of shortage of food.' Nice going Hiccup, you sure know how to make a jerk of yourself, he thought. 'I-I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt your feelings. I….I just don't like all this violence.' Blister gently nudged him and managed to show a sad smile. 'Hey kid, it's alright. You are new here…I guess you didn't know what you were talking about.' Hiccup showed a toothless smile, making the Terrors and the Gronckle, who was listening to the conversation from a distant, laugh.

'Well, come on! It's time we'd find some herbs for Indigo, so that her wounds won't get infected.' Blister said. Hiccup looked around to see if he could find the female Nadder. 'Where is she?'

'She's alright. She's just resting in a nearby cave. There are some herbs growing at the bottom of the rock formations. It will help her leg get better.' Blister explained. The Gronckle came padding towards the group, 'We could make it a race. The one who finds the herbs first wins!' The blue Terror screeched, 'That's not fair! A Shadow Racer always wins!' Picknose shouted. 'Ah, but are you sure that this clumsy one will win, my dear Picknose?' The yellow one asked. 'Hey….you're right! Hahaha, imagine that! We Terrors will stand a chance against a Shadow Racer! Wait till the rest of the Terrors hear this.' Hiccup looked at them with an annoyed expression. 'Yeah, you can tell them how you ate my dust!' The Terrors snarled. 'Bring it on Shadow Racer!' they both screamed.

'Is everybody ready?' Blister shouted, his voice echoing through the many, misty canyons that hid the den. The Terrors, Hiccup and Snort were ready. The Gronckle was clawing the ground like an angry bull, the Terros were jumping up and down, having difficulty hiding their excitement.' Hiccup merely stood there with his eyes narrowed. He felt confident, he slowly had gotten used to his wings and this was the ultimate test to see if he had adapted to his dragon body. Not that he was happy with it, but at least he could escape, should anything try to attack him. 'Get set!' All the dragons expanded their wings and lifted them up in the air. 'Go!'

Immediately Hiccup flapped his wings with all his might and he was off. The Terrors quickly followed, shouting profanities at him. Snort was last, his short wings made a buzzing sound as he tried to gain enough speed. The plant they had to find was bright green and had red flowers. That should not be so hard to get. 'Ouch!' Hiccup cried out, he looked back and saw one of the Terrors biting in his tail fin, growling like a dog who did not want to give up his bone. 'Stop that! You little pests! I ought to…..AAAAH!' He managed to cry out as he crashed into a wall. He frantically scratched with his claws to grab something to hold on to. The Terrors laughed and quickly dove towards the ocean. They must have found the plant! 'Damn it!' Hiccup screamed, he unleashed himself from the wall and dove after them. The wind was whistling in his ear as he got closer to the Terrors.

'Picknose, don't look now, but here he comes!' The frightened blue Terror blurred out. Picknose looked back and yelped in fright. 'N-now easy, Hiccup. We were just joking! Haha…..Don't hurt us!' Hiccup snarled and dove past them, knocking the Terrors out of his way. He could see the plant now! It was growing dangerously close at the bottom of the canyon, close to the ocean. Hiccup stretched out his paws and pressed his wings against his body. With his right paw he snatched the plant and quickly expanded his wings. He could feel the water splash against his belly before he flew back into the sky. He did it! He succeeded in not crashing into anything! He roared so that everyone could hear about his success. In the distance he could hear the other dragons roaring as well, in celebration of his victory.

He felt something on his tail. He looked down and saw both Terrors clinging onto him for dear life. They barely managed to save themselves by hanging onto Hiccup. 'Shall I tell the Terrors about my victory boys?' Hiccup said while grinning. 'Shut up!' Both Terrors shouted. After a couple of minutes of flying they reached their destination. Hiccup was welcomed by loud growls and roars, an dragon version of applause. Snort had given up and looked at the winner with a disappointed look on his face. 'Congratulations Hiccup,' Blister came walking towards them. 'You proven yourself worthy. Tonight you'll be guiding our Deadly Nadder and Gronckle platoon.' Hiccup cocked his head in confusion. 'What do you mean, Blister?'

'I mean that there's going to be a raid tonight. Today the village of Berk is our target. It is your job to guide the platoon and destroy every tower that you see.' Hiccup's eyes widened. The joyous feeling he had was now completely gone. What on earth was he going to do now?

**Every magical story needs a dream sequence, so I added one. Hahaha. I hope you guys enjoyed it and that you don't mind the long wait sometimes. I found a beautiful explanation of the meaning of the song 'The Voice' that I used in this chapter. This is what Valdir Serrao had to say about the song:**

**This "Voice" tells the story of our past, our sorrows, our joys, our mistakes and our successes, but it is also the voice that cries out for peace at our Future of Light and Happiness, forcing us on to search Wisdom to understand that everything we experience today was the one and only goal: Our Liberation of Pain and Suffering. "The Voice" is a song with the influence of Celtic culture. These people had their religious beliefs related to nature, to Mother Earth. **

**For Celtic, the woman was special, and much, because it was associated with Mother Earth. The Celtic realized that every man belongs to the great web of nature, and that life is a succession of new experiences and discoveries. Celtic Daily life was full of a natural magic, which happened by the way that the world watched. To the Celts, the physical world and spiritual world were a single, there was no separation between the natural and the supernatural. For they, the Other World, with its mysteries of grace, is inside us. Everyone has within them a flame, a quiet fire, a soul. One must realize your soul, make a connection with your inner flame, showing that we must always be linked to its very essence. **

**The Celtic philosophy of life was very simple: to observe the great lessons of Mother Nature, which is a major difficulty for the modern man. For them, life was an eternal cyclical movement of permanent transformation: we are born, grow, die and are reborn. There is the right time for everything: plowing, sowing, harvesting. The seasons are proof of nature that always, after a harsh winter, there is the arrival of spring. They show us that we must learn to lose to win later. Note: Allan Kardec, who adopted the pseudonym because it has been a priest of Celtic origin, has left us the famous phrase: "Birth, death, rebirth and progress has always, this is the law."**

**I loved his explanation about the song and it made me even more eager to use it in my story. I hope to update soon, but I hope you guys forgive me when it takes a while.**


	7. How to raid a village

**Hey there everyone! Once again, sorry for the long wait. Real life reared it's ugly head and slowed me down for a bit. Nothing too seriously, so no worries there ;). I want to thank everyone who reviewed and faved my story. Thank you! And now on with chapter 7! **

The sun began to set, coloring the sky with different shades of pink, orange and yellow. The Viking dragon was sitting at the edge of a cliff, looking at the beautiful scenery. Hiccup sighed, laying his head on top of his paws. It would not be long now before the dragons departed, where they would go on a quest, raiding the village of Berk. Whoever would win, Hiccup would lose some friends. How on earth did he end up in this predicament?

Suddenly a small dragon head popped up infront of Hiccup. His eyes grew wide at the sudden appearance of the yellow Terror. He barely managed to keep from screaming as he leaped up in a sitting position. 'Darn you Terrors! Don't sneak up on me like that!' Lickeye winced and bowed his head. 'Sorry Shadow Racer, but Indigo wants to see you before you leave!' Hiccup gasped. 'Tell her that I'm on my way.' The small dragon nodded and quickly flew back to the den.

As Hiccup entered the cave, to his relief he saw Indigo hopping around on her good leg, trying ever so slightly to put some weight on her bad one. She winced, but managed to take a step without falling down. She spotted the black dragon and flapped one of her wings, like she was waving at him. 'Hey there Hic…Woah' Indigo lost her balance while waving at him. Hiccup quickly advanced towards her and caught her before she could fall. 'Careful there, Indigo!' Hiccup laughed while gently pushing her back on her legs. 'Did you see me? I was walking again! Boy, those herbs must've been blessed with special powers because,' the Nadder kept babbling like a Terror. She was obviously relieved that her leg was finally healing. Hiccup couldn't help but grin at her child-like behaviour, it made him forget his problems for a moment. He joined in her moment of happiness and jumped around like a fool. 'I'm just so happy that you are doing well.'

Indigo looked at him and smiled. 'All thanks to you Hiccup! You saved me from the queen, or Green Death as we like to call her sometimes.' Hiccup shook his head. 'Without me, you wouldn't be in this mess,' he replied. 'Nonsense Hiccup! I finally got some excitement in my life.' The Nadder laughed. Suddenly her face turned more serious. 'Which reminds me, is it true that you will lead the Gronckle and Nadder platoon?' Hiccup stopped jumping around and nodded ' I'm afraid so….. Why on earth did Blister choose me? He knows I'm not a fighter!' Indigo interrupted him before he could dwell off into depressing thoughts again. 'He saw that you were brave and that you stood up for your friends. Those qualities make you a great leader and that's what counts in this war.' Indigo sighed, 'But promise me that you will be careful? Especially since it looks like the Vikings have a vendetta against you!' She pointed towards the scar on Hiccup's chest. The wound had healed, but left a long, thin, diagonal line behind. Hiccup touched it, shivering at the thought of an axe. ' I'll try. Heh, this whole situation makes me feel like a fish in a net….' Hiccups ears and frills suddenly perked up as he got an idea. 'Net…? That's it!' Indigo cocked her head in confusion. 'Hiccup, what are you thinking of?' The Night Fury jumped up and sprung towards the entrance of the cave. 'I have to discuss something with the platoon! I'll promise I'll return home in one piece.' He winked at her, stretched out his wings and flew off.

'Did you see how I beat that Gronckle into a pulp? With my face!' Snotlout bragged while waving his chicken leg around, splattering various people with gravy. 'What I did see was you tripping over a shield, knocking the Gronckle down with a lucky strike.' Astrid replied, her head resting on her hand. 'I think instead, you used your face to decorate the ground with another crack.' She sneered. 'A beautiful crack!' Snotlout said, the twins burst out laughing. 'What? What's so funny?' Snotlout shouted.

It was evening as the Viking gathered in the Great Hall, enjoying their meal which contained mostly out of meat. 'Who wants some vegetables?' The cook asked. He got his reply when he was smacked in the face with a chicken bone. The teenage Vikings just got back from dragon training, today they practised with the Gronckle. Snotlout managed to knock the dragon unconscious and he made sure the whole world knew. 'Say Snotlout, does your dad know about your victory?' Fishlegs asked. 'Good thinking, Fishlegs' Ruffnut whispered, giving him a quick shoulder nudge. 'Hey, you're right! Where's my dad anyway?' he looked around, but could not see him anywhere. 'I believe he is in the harbour.' One of the twins replied. And Snotlout was gone, off to meet his father. The rest of the teenagers gave eachother a high-five.

Meanwhile in the harbour, Spitelout was patrolling. It was his turn to watch out for any dragons that would try to nab their food. It was quiet all around him, the boats were floating calmly on the water, various items used for fishing were hanging on the decks and boats. The Vikings immediately rushed to the Great Hall when they heard the sound of the lunch horn, not bothered by the mess they left behind. 'Hey dad!' a voice shouted, Spitelout turned around and greeted his son. 'Hey there, son. You're looking happy today.'

'You should've seen me today dad! At dragon training, I was all like WHAM and the dragon was all like AARGH! But I showed no mercy and then the dragon was all like GRRRR and finally I went SMACK and…' Snotlout was flailing his arms as he tried to show his father a reenactment of the 'fight'. Spitelout laughed and patted his son on the head. 'That's my boy! Did you remember to use your face?' The young Viking rolled his eyes, 'Ofcourse dad! That's what we are famous for!'

'Well son, better get back before you food gets c….' He stopped in mid-sentence when a pair of giant shadows swooped over their heads, creating a gust of wind that made them stumble. 'What the…? Snotlout get back to the Great Hall! Warn the others before….! Aaagh!' Both Vikings screamed as something heavy was dropped onto them. Spitelout tried to wriggle himself free, but he was stuck. It was a net! Somebody had dropped a net over them. Screechings filled the air as more nets came plummeting down. Quick shadows made their way across the village as they unleashed their weapons, trapping every Viking that was still outside.

Stoick heard faint noises outside. He had just settled down in the hall. With a sigh he stood up and rubbed his forehead. 'What now…..Can't a Viking have a moment of peace?' He walked towards the giant doors that closed the hall and gave it a push. It would not budge, not even a centimeter. 'What in the name of Odin is going on?' More men came to try to push the door open, but to no avail. Stoick punched the door in anger, but nothing could change the situation they were in.

'That's it! Keep that door closed!' Hiccup shouted while hovering above the Gronckle's and a couple of Nadders who were pushing the door shut. They used their entire bodyweight to keep it closed, no Viking could get in or out. Hiccup tilted to the left and glided back to the harbour, he swooped down, stretched out his front paws and grabbed another net that was hanging from the side of a boat. With a few mighty flaps of his wings he arose back into the sky. With his keen sense of sight he spotted a few Vikings in the dark, who were charging towards the dragons that were blocking the door. Hiccup made the high pitched noise a Night Fury produced as it was about to fire, the Vikings reacted to it immediately. 'Night Fury! Get down!' one of them screamed. They fell on the ground and covered their heads with their hands. Hiccup snickered and instead of breathing fire he simply dropped the heavy net on top of the men. 'If one of them tries to crawl out, be sure to stand on the edges of the net! Use your bodyweight to keep them pinned! But do not hurt them!' The dragons nodded their heads. A Gronckle casually stepped on the side of the net, to make it the Vikings as uncomfortable as possible, he grinned as the men shouted profanities at him.

Blister sat on one of the towers who was unmanned at the moment. He shook his head in disbelief, but he couldn't keep a smile of his face. 'Never thought I'd live to see the day that a raid didn't claim any victims.' He roared a victory roar and other dragons joined in. Zipplebacks and other Monstrous Nightmares dove down, grabbing everything edible they could find. Sheep, fish, cows, they took it all. Hiccup saw Blister and flew towards him, circling the tower he shouted: 'So boss, how do you think the raid is going.' Blister looked at him sarcastically, 'The raid is a succes. However, I've never seen a crazier dragon than you.' Hiccup laughed, he raised one of his hind legs, 'Give me a high five! Or…High back five.' The red dragon looked at him as if he had lost his mind. 'Uhm…you know, you slap your paw against the other dragon's paw.' The Nightmare flew up and slapped his hind leg against Hiccup's. 'And now?' he asked. 'Uhm, now we have established that we are cool?' Hiccup nervously chuckled. Blister rolled his eyes and flew back to the village to get some more food. The Viking dragon shook his head and said to himself, 'Hiccup…Sometimes you are an idiot.'

'Astrid…can you see anything?' Fishlegs asked, grunting as Ruffnut accidently stepped on his face. The teen Vikings were standing on eachothers shoulders, trying to reach a window, high above the ground. 'Al…most. I can almost reach it. Yeah! Got it!' She shouted as the others crashed down to the earth. 'Ouch…argh. Oooh! I hope that becomes a scar!' Tuffnut said. Astrid pulled herself up, she rested her right hand on the dagger she was carrying around. Even if they lost this battle, she would make sure at least one dragon would not leave the village alive. On her left! There was one coming her way. She took a deep breath and jumped.

One more round through the village and he would signal the others to leave. They should leave some food for his tribe, so that they would not go completely hungry. He glided next to the largest building and tilted slighty to the left so that he could turn back towards the ocean. Suddenly something heavy landed on his back, it made him lose his concentration and he wobbled clumsy in the air before regaining his balance. 'What the…?' He turned his head and immediately his pupils turned into slits as he saw a dagger that was aimed at his head. 'You?' a female voice screamed. 'Astrid?' Hiccup gasped, he screeched as he quickly pulled his head to the right, barely dodging the blade. He flew at the top of his speed, making 360 turns and loops high in the air, hoping she would drop the blade during the wild ride. He felt Astrid grasping his neck holding on to him for her dear life, but at the same time the blade was held against his throat. One wrong move and she could slit his throat! With his tongue he gave her hand a quick lick. She screamed, thinking the dragon was going to bite. She let go of the blade and she slipped away, falling towards the ground.

'Nooo!' Hiccup screamed. He tucked in his wings and dropped himself vertically at full speed. Almost there! 80 feet, 70 feet, 60 feet till they reached the ground! He stretched out his paw and grabbed something as he flew back into the air. 'Please, oh please, let it be Astrid.' He looked down and to his relieve he had caught one of her legs, she was hanging upside down, screaming at the top of her lungs. 'Retreat! Retreat!' Hiccup shouted. The Nadders and Gronkcle flew away from the door, which slammed open immediately, and out poured the angry Vikings. Most of the platoon flew away, their claws filled with food. Others dropped their bagage out of fear of getting caught. Several men helped the ones caught in a net, slashing it to pieces with their swords, quickly they stood up, shaking off the remains of the nets. Lucky for the dragons, the surprise of the sneak attacks slowed the men down. Every dragon managed to escape.

Hiccup, who was still holding a very angry Astrid, hovered above the forest as he watched his platoon fly by. Most of them were laughing at the misfortune of the Vikings, while others were panting out of fear and exhaustion. 'Let me go, you murderer! Let me go and fight like a real dragon!'Astrid shouted. She tried to kick him with her free leg. Hiccup looked down, not knowing what to do next. 'Hiccup! We don't take any prisoners!' Blister roared. 'Drop the Viking and lets return to the nest.'

'We can't just leave her in the forest unharmed, she'll get eaten by wolves!' Blister growled, 'Why do you care? Finish her off and return to the nest!' Having said that he flew away, after the other dragons who were nothing but little dots now on the horizon. Hiccup narrowed his eyes in frustration. He lost his train of thought when Astrid managed to kick him in his….weak spot. 'Aaargh!' The pain and surprise made him accidently release Astrid for a second before he caught her again, this time he grabbed one of her arms. Flapping wildly to regain air, he could not surpress a little growl aimed at her. Astrid looked at him with rage in her eyes, if looks could kill, he'd be dead ten times now. 'Go on then! Kill me, like you killed Hiccup! You beast!' Hiccup gasped. Why should she care that he was 'dead.' Unless…she missed him. Atleast…a little bit. I got to show her that I'm still alive…But how? Maybe if….. Having thought that, he flew deeper into the forest. He looked around and spotted the canyon he crashed into the first day he became a dragon.

He glided over the lake, towards the sandy part of the canyon. He dropped her, rather uncaring, on the beach. 'This,' he growled, 'is for kicking me!'He landed a few feet away from her. Astrid sprung up and rushed towards him, fist raised. She was so angry, that she did not think of how stupid it must have been to try and punch a dragon. 'And this…' he said as she came closer. What happened next made her world turn upside down, and not literally this time. The dragon stood up on his hind legs, wrapped his front paws around her and held her close against his chest, embracing her. 'This is for missing me.'

**That's chapter 8 for you! Hope you guys enjoy it! Sorry if it will take some time to update my story now and then. School is robbing me a lot of my free time, but I hope to finish the next chapter soon.**


	8. How to win a dragon's heart

**Hey hey everyone, time for chapter 8! Yes, this is chapter 8. I made a typo mistake at the end of my previous chapter! Also meant to write the word 'unarmed' not 'unharmed.' Curse those annoying little typo's! I also want to thank everyone! For your kind reviews, for reading my story. I never expected it to be this popular. Thank you so much!**

**Yet again, this chapter will contain a song. No, I'm not turning my story into a musical. I just read one of the cutest short stories ever written on FF and I used it as an inspiration for this chapter. Credits go to Star's Snowflake for filling my head with ideas. The song is called 'Everything's alright' from Jesus Christ Superstar. I advice you to look for the song on Youtube for a better reading experience ;) (I suggest the 1970 version which is located on the first page on Youtube)**

**Last but not least, thanks Timore Nocturnus Caelum for giving me some good advice about my story's layout. He has given me tips on how to improve it so that it's easier to read. Feel free to give me advice again if you want. And now finally on with chapter 8!**

This couldn't be real. It was a dream, an illusion or perhaps a hallucination. Didn't she try to jump out of a window a half hour ago? Yes, that was it! She probably fell on her head and had a concussion. That would be a relief! Maybe a little brain damage, but anything better than a ferocious Night Fury hugging her.

'I'm dreaming this, I'm dreaming this. When I open my eyes everything will be back to normal,' Astrid said to herself.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She could see nothing but dark skin and carbon black scales. She could hear nothing but a loud heartbeat and a weird rumbling sound. It was purring! And it was still holding her! Finally realizing this was not a dream, Astrid screamed.

Hiccup purred in delight. He finally got to hug Astrid, he never was able or allowed to as a human. He hoped this moment would never end. But unfortuantly it did when a piercing scream filled his ears. His heart skipped a beat and the sound made him wince. Quickly he wrapped his large wings around them, hoping to decrease the volume. This was not helping at all as Astrid began to punch him on the chest, trying her best to escape his 'clutches.' He began to topple backwards, and with a mighty thud landed on his back.

'Ack,' Hiccup exclaimed. The impact made him unwrap his wings and release his hold on Astrid. She took this as an opportunity to escape. She jumped off the dragon and searched for the nearest exit out of the canyon. Luckely for Hiccup the environment was unfamiliar to her, she did not know how to leave the canyon. She ran around, desperately trying to find a place to hide. Hiccup moaned and shook his head. He rolled over and saw her running. Thanks to his keens sense of sight he could see her in the dark.

'Astrid! Wait!' Hiccup shouted. But all she could hear were roars and so began to run even faster. Hiccup quickly followed, without hardly any effort he almost caught up to her when he suddenly was hit by a rock that hit him on the forehead.

'Ouch' he growled clutching his head with his paw.

'Stay away from me!' Astrid shouted, grabbing rock and pebbles from different sizes, throwing them at the dragon.

'Astrid, will you…Ouch! Please….Aargh! If you just…oof! Stop it!' His angered roar making the ground shake.

Astrid dropped the remaining rocks she was holding, eyes widened, face turned pale. She was trapped and it was going to kill her. She was literally with her back against the wall. Her knees were trembling as she slided into a sitting position on the ground. She hid her face behind her hands and hoped the end would come quickly.

Hiccup was shocked when he saw Astrid sitting there all curled up. He realized how terrifying he must look right now, pupils turned into slits, teeth unsheathed. How could he be so quick to anger? This was not what he wanted! What should he do now? Hiccup took a few steps backward and made a crooning sound. 'Come one Astrid! Look at me! I'm not going to hurt you!' he said, careful not to raise his voice. Astrid looked through her fingers and Hiccup quickly made sure he looked cute. His pupils dilated, he raised his ear frills, he was leaning forward on his front half and his haunches in the air, tail wagging. He looked like an excited dog that wanted to play ball. To add more cuteness to it, he made small hops and jumps.

Sand was flying up in the air when he was jumping around, making him sneeze. Wait a minute? Maybe he could write something down? That would sure convince her! Eagerly he began to draw lines in the sand, trying to spell his name. He did not notice that Astrid slowly stood up and walked towards him, carefully taking her steps, ready to run if needed to. It was very difficult to write in the sand. His dragon muscles would not allow the subtle movements a human hand could make. Also he sometimes stepped in his own writing, dragging his tail along with him, wiping out the letters. Frustrated, he clawed in the sand when he failed yet again to write his name.

'Come on Hiccup, think!' he growled to himself. He spotted a tiny pine tree from the corner of his eye. He walked towards it and yanked it out of the ground with his teeth. Carefully he stood up on his hind legs and tried to write his name, using the pine tree as a big substitute pencil. Unfortuantly he could not see where he was going, so he trusted on his luck and walked around carefully trying to keep himself in balance on his hind legs.

Astrid looked at the peculiar dragon, still scared but also a bit curious. She had no idea what it was trying to do, but she was happy with whatever it was doing as long as it did not eat her. It had a small tree in his mouth and swirled around, making lines and figures in the sand. She took a few steps closer, inspecting the dragon's work. It whirled around her, accidently smacking her with the top of the tree, making her fall on her backside.

A surprised yelp made Hiccup stop with what he was doing. He saw Astrid sitting on the ground, rubbing her head. Hiccup spit out the tree and quickly walked over towards her. Before she knew it, he picked her up by the back of her shirt and gently placed her back on her feet. She turned around to look at him, an even more surprised expression on her face.

'Uhm…T-thanks. I think.' Astrid simply replied.

The dragon purred and gently gave her a nudge. He pointed to the ground with his nose and made a few growling sounds as if he was trying to say something. She looked at the ground, but could not make out what he was trying to say. Some of the lines looked like letters, but they were partly smudged by footprints. Also the wind was gently blowing the sand around, ruining the dragon's hard work. It growled and moaned when he saw that all was done for nothing. It's ear frills drooped yet again and he looked so sad that Astrid almost felt sorry for him. The dragon was standing right next to her and she could not believe what she did next. She raised her hand slowly and patted the creature on the head. The Night Fury looked at her, just as surprised as she was. Looking into it's eyes, Astrid realized there was something different about this dragon. This reptile missed the murderous look that it's kind usually had. People say that you can look into someone's soul when you look into a person's eyes. What she could see was intelligence and kindness. The dragon reminded her of someone….. Stars reflected in the dragon's gentle eyes and she looked up, realizing it was really late. Her parents must be worried sick.

'Look, I really got to go.' She said, pointing at the direction where the village was. 'Go. Do you understand?'

The dragon shook his head, moaning and whining. It was begging her not to leave.

'I'm sorry, but it's really late. My parents don't know where I am.' Having said that she turned around, but something grabbed her by the back of her shirt. The dragon was pulling her closer towards him. 'Let me go, you crazy reptile. I don't have time for this!'

The dragon growled and shook his head again, he would not budge. He let her go, but with a quick jump he stood infront of her, a stern look on his face. Astrid was getting annoyed now.

'What do you want from me?' She growled.

The dragon cocked his head, wagged his tail and made a barking sound. Astrid buried her face in her hands with annoyance. 'Alright, alright. If I promise you that I'll be back tomorrow, will you let me go?'

The dragon nodded and took a step sideways, with his wing he pointed towards an exit he spotted just now. He looked at her again and narrowed his eyes, he did not look entirely convinced. Astrid held up her hand and spoke.

'If I do not keep my promise, you may kidnap me from Berk and set my house on fire, this I swear by Odin. Are you happy now? And don't give me that smart look!'

Hiccup barely managed to hide his grin. He watched her as she ran away. Before she exited the canyon, she took one look back, then left. Hiccup kept looking on for a few minutes, collecting his thoughts. He could not say it was a complete succes, but it was not a complete failure either. He really hoped she would keep her promise. The writing idea unfortuantly did not work, but he would figure out a way to communicate with her. He was sure of it! The young Viking dragon sighed and then took off back to the dragon den.

It was still dark when he finally reached the dragon's home. The sun would not come up for a couple of hours, so Hiccup decided to take a quick nap. He entered the main entrance and searched for a place to sleep when he heard a sound coming deep from within the cavern. It sounded like babies crying. As quickly as his scaly feet allowed it, he rushed towards the noise until he found the source it was coming from. Hiccup had entered what appeared to be the 'sleeping cave' for dragons. The ground and even parts of the walls were covered in thick, soft, lightgreen moss. It was a perfect place to take a nap, had it not been for the numerous young hatchlings that were crying. The adult dragons were stirring in their moss beds and grew agitated. Some were blowing smoke through their nostrils to express their mood. Hiccup spotted Blister lying on the ground a few feet away from him. Hiccup walked over towards the angry Nightmare.

'Hey Blister, what's going on?' Hiccup asked.

'Urgh, it's the younglings. They're hungry, and that's when they become a real pain in the a-'

'Wait a minute! What happened to all the sheep and cows we got from Berk. There was enough for everyone.' Hiccup said surprised. They almost ransacked the whole village.

'The queen was extremely hungry today. She ate almost everything, leaving just enough for everyone plus some scraps for the younglings.' Blister muttered clearly very angry with the situation. 'I guess we have to raid another village tomorrow if we don't want to starve to death. Some of our children need a good meal fast!'

'That's terrible! Somebody should do something against this!' Hiccup answered.

'Oh yeah? And what do you think we should do about it?' The Nightmare snarled back.

'I don't know….yet! So how are we going to calm the hatchlings?'

'Indigo is already working on it. She's over there.' Blister said as he pointed with his snout.

Hiccup looked up and saw the Nadder making soothing noises to try and calm the young dragons. She walked around, giving every youngling some attention. Most of them were crying, begging their parents for more food.

'Mummy, I'm so hungry. Do you have more?' a baby Nightmare whimpered.

'I don't want to starve to death like the others, daddy' a young Nadder cried out. It was followed by shushing and calming sounds from an adult male Nadder, patting his child on the head.

For a moment Indigo stopped and began to think. It looked like she had an idea for she began to sing a calming song. Hiccup never heard a dragon sing before and he never would've imagined that it could sound so beautiful. He walked over towards a family of Gronckles and laid down next to them. Resting his head on his paws he listened, enjoying the peaceful song.

_Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to  
Problems that upset you, oh.  
Don't you know  
Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.  
And we want you to sleep well tonight.  
Let the world turn without you tonight.  
If we try, we'll get by, so forget all about us tonight_

Other female dragons joined in, providing a background chorus.

_Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes._

Suddenly Blister reared up his head and began to sing as well. He spat out all the anger that had been bothering him and he vented his rage onto poor Indigo.

_Woman your fine melodies, cheerful and hopeful  
Just save it for another day  
Why waste your energy? You could have helped maybe  
Carrying food or more.  
Younglings who are hungry, younglings who are starving  
They matter more than your songs and life!_

Hiccup snarled at Blister. How dare he? It was not her fault that she got hurt and could not participate in the raid it was…..his fault. Indigo simply shook her head and continued singing.

_Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to  
Problems that upset you, oh.  
Don't you know  
Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.  
And we want you to sleep well tonight.  
Let the world turn without you tonight.  
If we try, we'll get by, so forget all about us tonight_

While singing, she tucked in several younglings who's eyes were getting sleepy. Various hatchlings were yawning and they made themselves comfertable in the moss, their mothers carefully draping their wings on the bodies of there offspring to keep them warm. They also continued singing:

_Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes._

Hiccup turned his head towards Blister and growled to get his attention. When the Nightmare looked at him, Hiccup began to sing as well. He had never done this before, but the words were just flowing out of his mouth.

_Surely you're not saying we have the resources  
To save everyone from their lot?  
There will be unfortuant ones always, pathetically struggling.  
Look at the good things you've got.  
Think while you still have meat!  
Move while you still have energy!  
You'll be lost, you'll be so sorry when it's gone._

Blister slowly stood up and loomed at Hiccup. Indigo quickly jumped in between them, she managed not to wince when she landed on her still sore leg. She tried to calm down the dragons hoping to keep the peace between the angered Nightmare and Hiccup. She continued singing again.

_Sleep and I shall soothe you, calm you and anoint you.  
Myrrh for your hot forehead, oh  
Then you'll feel  
Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.  
And the night is cool and the songs are sweet  
For the fire in your head and feet.  
Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax  
Think of nothing tonight._

Blister settled down, his eyes still focusing on Hiccup. He sighed, turned around and went to sleep. Hiccup sighed as well, in relief. For a moment he was scared that Blister wanted to fight with him and Hiccup did not dare to battle. He was certain that he could save himself with his flying skills, his fighthing skills were a whole different matter. He laid down as well and watched Indigo as she and the other mother dragons finished the song.

_Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax_

_Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax_

_Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes._

_Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes._

_Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes._

All the young dragons were asleep now. Curled up against their parents with a smile on their face. Indigo walked around the cave for one last time. When she was convinced every youngling was asleep she went over to Hiccup and settled down next to him. Hiccup closed his eyes and draped his wing over Indigo while she did the same with her wing. Just before he could doze off to sleep an idea hit him. With his paw he nudged the Nadder who slowly opened her eye.

'Hm?'

'Indigo,' Hiccup whispered, 'do we still have some of the nets we used in the raid?'

'A couple of them. Why?'

'I think I got another idea.'

The next morning all the dragons were gathered on top of the highest peak, including the young hatchlings who were eagerly chirping. They were far away from the queen who was still sleeping, deep below sea level in her lavapit. Both Hiccup and Indigo stood at the edge of the peak, holding one of the human made nets in their mouth and feet.

'Alright Indigo, it's time you flew again. This exercise will do you wings good. Now remember, as we move closer towards the sea, drop the net carefully into the ocean, but hold on to it. When the net gets heavier we both fly up on my signal and if we have any luck there will be enough food for all of us.' Hiccup instructed.

'Yeah, yeah. That's the third time now Hiccup. I'm not some dumb Terror.' Indigo sighed.

'Hey!' A shrill voice exclaimed followed by various dragons chuckling.

'Alright then. Ready? Get set. Go!'

As soon as the Viking dragon shouted this, they plunged themselves off the peak. At terrifying speed they flew towards the ocean. Both dragons stretched out their wings just in time and glided over the surface of the water.

'Drop the net!' Hiccup shouted.

Carefully stretching out both of her feet, Indigo plunged the net in the water. Hiccup did the same as well. After a few minutes the net grew heavier and both dragons had to flap their wings several times to keep from crashing into the sea.

'I think it's full enough now. You think you can pull the net up?' Hiccup asked.

'I hope so.' Indigo growled, concentrating on her sore leg.

'Okay then….Now!

He flapped his wings with all his might as Indigo did the same. She gritted her teeth, but kept pulling on the net. It surfaced from the water and was filled with various types of fish. When the Deadly Nadder and Night Fury saw this they both roared in excitement. They did it! They could provide everyone with food! Hiccup looked at the female and saw that now she had no trouble lifting up the net. The happiness must have given her new energy. He smiled as they both flew back to the other dragons.

A half hour, and a few flights, later a huge pile of fish lay on top op the mountain, ready to be eaten. The younglings immediately dove in, eating till their starving bellies were full. The adults had enough to eat as well. Atleast enough so that they would not go hungry again for two days. Hiccup and Indigo were sitting further away, witnessing the happy event while munching on some fish.

'You know Hiccup. Maybe you have not realised it, but you have given us something more important than food today.' Indigo said.

'What's that then?' Hiccup asked.

'Hope. You have given us hope. We were never this happy before you showed up. It's like the Gods finally saw we needed help and sent you. Therefore I think I speak for all dragons when I say…Thank you. For everything.'

This comment made Hiccup's heart soar. He never got this kind of appreciation in Berk. He felt that he was blushing and turned his head away, hoping Indigo did not notice it. Maybe a life as a dragon was not so bad after all. Still…. He hardly could wait to see Astrid again.

**And that's chapter 8 for you! This is probably the longest chapter I have written yet. Hopefully chapter 9 will not take so long to write. Again, thanks everyone for reading and enjoying my story! I really appreciate it!**


	9. How to befriend a dragon

**Oh dear, chapter nine took even longer to write than I expected :P. School was robbing me of my free time. I managed to finish it with blood, sweat and tears…mostly tears. Anyway, I'm very happy that I can now focus on the story again. Many things have happened for the last few weeks. I got my drivers license! (Yay), passed on almost all my grades and now I'm enjoying my vacation as well. I used up so much of my brainpower for school that I had a little writersblock. Hopefully it will be gone now!**

**Sorry for keeping you guys waiting, but I guess you are used to it by now ;).**

**On with chapter 9.**

Sneaking out of the den in the dark with dragon vision made everything so much easier. He carefully tiptoed his way to the entrance, hoping not to tread on anyone's tail. He sighed with relief when he finally stepped outside. He looked up at a clear evening sky and stretched out his wings. With a giant flap he lifted himself in the air and enjoyed the cool breeze on his face. The strong wind made his wings bulge, but he would not be caught by surprise again. With small effort he maneuvered his way through the current winds, he couldn't wait to see Astrid again. He missed her and he hoped she was still missing him… His human self that is. Hiccup's eyes narrowed and his frills drooped. He was getting used to being a dragon, and flying was an amazing experience, but he missed his human life as well. Would everyone still be missing me? He pondered. Shaking his head to mentally throw away these depressive thoughts he continued his way to the canyon.

At the other end of the canyon another person was deep in thoughts.

'I must be insane!' Astrid muttered to herself. She stroked the handle of her knife to give herself some comfort, no way would she go back without a weapon! If that dragon would have a change of mind, she'd be ready for it. Still….why on earth is she going back? It was not really going to burn down her house if she did not keep her promise, right? And… There was something different about that dragon. His eyes showed an intelligence… Like it was almost human. She hated to admit it, but she was curious about how these meetings would turn out to be. She was glad she carried a torch, the sun had set about an hour ago and the forest was pitch black. It did not take her long to find the entrance to the canyon. She took a deep breath and entered.

Hiccup could smell the forest, he was getting close now. If his memory was correct he should see the canyon in a couple of minutes. Suddenly something caught his eye. An orange dot dancing around in the dark. It was Astrid! Unable to control his excitement he dove immediately to the ground. But he was focusing so hard on the orange dot he did not notice he was heading to a crash landing in the lake.

Holding her torch up high in the air, Astrid saw a black shadow blocking the moon for a few seconds.

'Alright….It's here.' She said nervously. The typical noise that a Night Fury made as it attacked or made a dive filled the air. Followed by a loud splashing sound and a gigantic wave that knocked her off her feet.

Way to go Hiccup, you sure know how to make youself look like a second rate dragon….. If wasn't for his lack of air, he would've stayed the whole night at the bottom of the lake out of shame. Kicking his hind legs and paddeling with his front paws, he swam towards the surface of the water, gasping for air when he finally reached it. For a second he could hear nothing but forest sounds. That soon changed as a chain of curse words reached his ears.

'You stupid, good for nothing, smelly, lousy, son of a !' A soaking wet Astrid ranted, shaking her fist at the Night Fury. The dragon cringed, clearly afraid to step out of the water. 'You come out of there so I can kick you back in!' The creature moaned, but then carefully, step by step, made his way towards Astrid. Suddenly he froze in his tracks and growled, looking at her belt.

He couldn't believe it. She brought a weapon with her! He could smell the metal and a very faint scent of blood. Probably from a previous battle. 'Take it off now!' Hiccup growled, even though Astrid could not understand him. His dragon instincts caught up with him. His mind was screaming: weapon means death! 'Throw that thing away!' He clawed at the ground to emphasize his mood. She quickly grabbed the knife, looked at it and then at the dragon for a second and threw it away in the lake. 'That's better!' Hiccup murmered. His ears perked up when he saw that Astrid was shivering. Not from fear but from the cold. He sighed, way to make an entrance. He looked around, there has to be wood for a fire around here. Walking over towards some small trees, he yanked one out of the ground, slashed it into pieces with his claws and piled them up. He took a deep breath, exhaled and set the wood on fire.

From a distance Astrid was observing the peculiar dragon as it paced from left to right, collecting wood to make a fire. Why was it doing that? Didn't dragons have an internal flame that kept them warm? Wait a minute…. It wasn't making it for her now was it? The dragon looked at her and with a nod from his head he was motioning her to come closer. To her surprise she did walk closer to the fire. Why did she trust this creature? She had enough reasons not to. On the other hand, it had not attacked her and she was all alone. If it wanted to kill her, it could've already done it a million times now. She sat down next to the fire and rubbed her hands together, enjoying the warmth. The dragon laid down next to her. When she looked up she noticed that the dragon was observing her, his head was slightly tilted and one of his ears was flopped to the side giving him a rather curious look.

'Uhm, thank you for making the fire and….. I'm sorry I brought a weapon with me. It's not every day I sit around a fire with a dragon you know.'

The dragon cheerfully growled and wagged his tail a bit. To her surprise he managed to open his mouth and smile! The Night Fury gave her a toothless smile! It seemed it understood her and had forgiven her. Astrid smiled, she felt it was a bit rude to keep calling the creature dragon. She did not even know what it's gender was.

'Say dragon, are you a boy or girl? If you can understand me tap once for boy or twice for girl.'

The dragon lifted one of his front paws and gave one tap on the ground.

'So you are a boy huh? Is it okay if I give you a name? It sounds not normal to keep calling you dragon.'

The dragon expression changed, eyes lifted to the sky, his mouth in a small frown as if he was thinking. Then he looked at her again and nodded.

'Alright, I have already come up with a name for you. How about Toothless?'

Hiccup growled in surprise and he also felt pretty offended. He protracted his teeth to show her he was not toothless. How dare she give him that ridiculous name.

'Well, it's either that or call you Badbreath, Kidnapper or Lizardhead.'

Hiccup roared and jumped up. He gave her an angry look and turned his head away. After standing there for a couple of minutes he sighed and laid down again as if agreeing with her, but under protest.

'Toothless it is then.' Astrid said with a grin on her face, while the dragon made grumbling, annoyed sounds.

For a while the girl and the Viking dragon just sat there in silence, enjoying the view. Stars shone brightly in the sky and there was a full moon which made the night look very peaceful. A good night for a flight, Hiccup thought to himself. He had to admit that it was the most important and most joyful aspect in a dragon's life.

'It must be amazing up there!' Astrid said with a sigh. 'I mean, I'm still not a fan of dragons. No offence!' she quickly retorted. 'But I do envy you for having wings. So much freedom and to go where ever you want to, that's just…just…wow!' In her excitement she had trouble finding the right words to describe her feelings.

Hiccup's ears perked up when he got an idea. He stood up, stretched a few limbs who had falling asleep and shook the sand off of him. He padded over towards Astrid and stretched out his right wing, motioning her to climb on his back.

'Wait a minute, you want to take me for a flight? Who says you won't drop me accidently…or on purpose?'

Hiccup violently shook his head, he lifted his left paw and made a 'cross my heart and hope to die' sign, making an imaginary x mark on his chest. The girl still was not too sure about it as she nervously tapped with her foot. After a few seconds she made a frustrated growl sound and walked towards him.

'Alright then…. Let's go… But if you get me killed I will be kicking your butt from here to Valhalla. Oh wait… first we got to put out that fire.'

Hiccup casually swatted his tail on top of the fire which went out instantly. Fireproof scales sure do come in handy sometimes.

Carefully she stepped on his wing. Inch by inch she shuffeled towards his back. She sat down, her feet hanging over the dragon's shoulders. She didn't know where to hold on, so she grabbed the two main frills on top of his head. Hiccup shook himself a bit to loosen his muscles and lifted his wings. The first few steps he walked, then he began to run to gain speed while flapping his wings and adjusting his tail in the right position. He could feel that Astrid was nervous when she grabbed on to his neck and held on tight. Hiccup jumped and flapped with all his might, gaining air. The wind whistled in their ears as they came closer and closer towards the clouds. Not wanting to make her scared he stopped ascending. They were pretty high up in the sky, but not on terrifying heights yet. He stretched his wings to their full length and glided on the air currents.

'Astrid… Astrid open your eyes.' Hiccup growled in his dragon language.

Astrid felt like she was sliding away. She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around the creature's neck. She had her eyes closed and felt the cold wind blowing through her hair. It seemed like the vertical flight would never end. Suddenly she felt the creature tilt to a horizontal position and the wind stopped. Her ears were buzzing for a couple of minutes. The only sound she could hear were the flaps of the dragon's wings now and then. He growled something and she opened one eye. She could see the whole island. It was beautiful! The light of the moon and the stars reflected in the water, making it shine like little diamonds. It was difficult to see a lot of details from this height, but she could make up the yellow dots here and there from the village.

'Toothless, this is amazing! Ha, look at me! The first flying Viking in the world!'

'Well, not exactely.' Hiccup growled in his own language.

Astrid stretched out both her arms, trying to touch more clouds that were floating above their heads. Hiccup, afraid that she would catch a cold so high up in the air, started descending a bit. The village and the trees came closer. A pang of home sickness struck Hiccup as he looked at his former home. He knew for sure that Astrid missed him, but would his dad miss him as well? Or was he glad to be rid of his whimpy son? Hiccup was in such deep thoughts, that he did not realise that he was flying way too close to the village.

'NIGHT FURY!' GET DOWN!' a voice suddenly shrieked, immediately followed by other equally panicked voices.

The noise startled both Hiccup and Astrid. She quickly wrapped her arms and feet around his neck again. He made a 180 degrees horizontal turn, desperately trying to fly back to the forest. Thanks to the 'wonderful moon,' Hiccup's dark scales glittered in the light making it difficult for him to blend in with the dark of the night. His ears caught a familiar sound and immediately he stopped dead in his tracks, making circular motions with his wings to hover. A bola came zooming past him, it had just missed it's target. Hiccup's mind took him back to that faithful night when he captured the legendary Night Fury and paid the prize for killing it.

'No, no, no, no, this can't be happening!' Hiccup anxiously muttered to himself. He looked to see who had shot the bolas at him. His heart skipped a beat when he saw his dad with a rage filled expression on his face.

'Reload the weapon!' His father shouted and immediately Gobber rushed back inside the weaponary to get another bola.

'That's the signal to get out of here, Toothless!' Astrid shouted in his ear.

Wildly flapping his wings, he managed to gain tremendous speed, quickly leaving the village behind them. Hiccup was panting, the adrenaline still rushing through his veins. This night sure had quickly turned from good to worse.

Back in the village, Stoick was still watching the skies. He made a frustrated growl and kicked a small stone away that was infront of his feet, followed by a scream.

'Sorry Tuffnut!' Stoick shouted.

'Awesome! Hopefully this will become a scar!' the teen said as he rubbed his head and walked home.

The rest of the Vikings continued their normal routines. Most of them were disappointed that there would be no fight. A few of them resolved this problem by starting a fight with eachother. Yes, the village was at peace again.

'Shall I put the catapult away then, Stoick?' Gobber asked.

'No! It stays outside and it will stay outside until that darn creature is captured. It takes too much time to move it in and out of the weaponary. The next time those dragons raid the village and I see that demon…I'll be ready for it.'

Gobber rolled his eyes, when Stoick was not looking ofcourse, and patted his friend on the back. 'There, there now. How about we grab ourselves a couple of beers in the Great Hall?'

Stoick sighed, 'If it makes me forget about Hiccup and the dragon I'm happy.' He said as he let himself be guided to the Great Hall.

The night may have gotten quiet for the Vikings, back in the sky the Viking dragon was still racing back to the canyon as quickly as he could.

'Hey! Woah, slow down! We're not in trouble anymore. They won't come after us!' Astrid shouted, patting Hiccup on the side of his neck to calm him down. He looked around, saw that she was right and slowed down. Still panting from the adrenaline, he let his limbs dangle beneath him. He was so tired now. They reached the canyon and Hiccup landed or rather slided on his belly to a halt. Astrid quickly got off him.

'Are you okay?' She asked worried.

Hiccup managed to produce a sheepish grin and rolled over on his side so that his painful limbs would not get crushed under his body. He folded his wings around him, like a blanket and closed his eyes.

'Well, now I know what a dragon feels like during a raid…. It's not cool.' She sighed. 'Listen, apart from that explosion of violence back there I had a lot of fun. But I really should go now. So do you want to….Ugh, can't believe I'm asking this….'

Hiccup opened an eye and looked at her. Was she going to ask what he thought she would be asking?

'Do you want to…hang out again tomorrow?'

Hiccup's heart made a leap of joy, he wagged his tail and grinned a toothless grin. Astrid laughed because of his silly face. As the laughter echoed through the canyon both dragon and girl did not notice the shadowy, dragonesque figure sitting between the trees looking at them. The smoke which surrounded the shadow dragon slowly changed color. The black color was replaced with a darkgrey color. He noticed the change and a content and more peaceful expression appeared on his face.

**Phew, finally finished it. This chapter gave me so much trouble. A more action packed chapter shall appear soon. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so far, I felt my writing skills were a bit off from the long break of writing I took. No fear, I will continue this story. So don't fret if it takes some time for me to update ;)**


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